Reborn through Remnant
by Reflective599
Summary: After a brutal beating by cruel bigots, a young orphaned faunus is set upon by Visions of another life and another world. As he grows and adapts to his surroundings, he will prove that in Remnant, legends are not born, but Reborn. Reincarnated!Naruto. RemnantBorn!Naruto. Faunus!Naruto. Possible Harem. Naruto x Nora Valkyrie! ( On Unexpected Hiatus; NOT DEAD!)
1. Rebirth

Disclaimer: I do not own either "Naruto" or "Rwby", they are the property of their respective owners, and this is made only for entertainment purposes.

Reborn through Remnants

Ch.1

Rebirth

The boy was running.

This alone wasn't a huge upset; after all, he was an orphan. Worse, he was an orphaned _Faunus_. A seven-year-old runt of a kid living on the outskirts of Atlas, running was the only way he knew how to survive.

No, the fact that he was running wasn't a huge surprise, the trouble arose when one saw the reason _why_. Unlike the other times, he wasn't running to keep a hold of whatever scrap of food he'd managed to steal or to escape the bigoted jerks who made up the Atlesian Police Force. No, at that moment he ran for only one reason: _Fear._

He had heard about them, of course, the Schnee Dust Company. There wasn't a Faunus alive who hadn't heard of them, just as there wasn't a Faunus alive who didn't speak about them without some level of either fear or hatred in their voice. At night, when he'd lie down in the abandoned alleyway he called home, the group would fuel his nightmares, and when he'd lie awake, too hungry to sleep properly, he'd pray to whoever would listen that they wouldn't find him. Unfortunately, it would seem that his prayers had gone unanswered, as that time had come.

He knew about their Dust Mines. More importantly, he knew what they meant for any Faunus unlucky enough to end up in them. Death. Plain and simple. In those Mines, they either worked you until you died, or you got lucky enough to escape. There was no middle ground, and he held no delusions of escape if he got caught.

So, when a group of four masked men with the Schnee symbol sewn into their clothes found him that day in the alley, he didn't waste time asking questions, he just ran. This prompted the four men to give chase, placing him into the position he currently found himself in.

He'd been running from them for a straight two hours, the chase taking him and the group of four out of the city proper and onto the cliffs surrounding it. He was faster than them, of that there was no doubt, but the fully-grown men had him outnumbered and had longer legs, so they were able to stay behind him, just out of reach as luck would have it. Unfortunately, his luck had just run out.

Though it was true he had them beat in speed, it had been several days since he'd last eaten and his body was beginning to run out of steam. That wasn't to say he couldn't keep running (he'd kept moving through worse conditions) but the loss of energy made him sloppier. This would prove to be his undoing. Normally when he ran, he kept his tail wrapped tightly around his waist, keeping it clean and out of reach of any pursuers but, on this day, as he lost focus, he let it drop and trail behind him, suspended in midair as he continued move forward, never the wiser.

Immediately capitalizing on this new opportunity, one of the men reached forward and plucked the long and furry orange, white tipped foxtail from its place in the air, dragging with it the small boy attached to it before he could correct his mistake. Despite all his efforts, he had been caught.

That was when the beating started. Punches, kicks, clubs of some sort, all impacted against the boy's tender flesh, bruising skin and cracking bones as they did. Rather it was payback for the time the chase took or to stop him from fighting back later, he didn't know nor did he care. All that mattered at that moment was the pain.

Then, it happened. One of his attackers urged some Aura into a kick, just enough to make it stronger than normal, and punted the boy's body forward. Under typical circumstances, the others would have congratulated him for his efforts, but as they followed the body's descent with their eyes, they saw the boy's head connect with a nearby rock with a sickening 'crack'! His body, previously writhing in pain, suddenly went unnaturally still and the air, until now fill with his screams of pain, became deathly silent, an ominous line of red beginning to leak from the crown of his head.

"CRAP!" The man who had kicked the boy cursed.

"Dang it Coal, you killed it!" Another of them yelled out in annoyance at the little freak's death "Now how are we supposed to get paid?!"

"Sorry Manchester" the one called Coal said sheepishly, nervously scratching the back of his head as he felt the others glaring at him "Guess I got a little carried away."

"Yeah, yeah" Manchester replied still annoyed "Ain't nothin' we can do about it now but clean up the mess."

With that said, he began edging the boy's body away with the tip of his boot, not willing to dirty his hands actually touching the little beast. His companions watched with disinterest as he slowly edged the body over the side of the cliff and out of sight. By now this was a common sight for them, another part of the job.

Besides, it was just a Faunus.

0

Unbeknownst to them as they made their way back into the city, day gradually bleeding into night, the boy's body slowly came to a stop at the base of the cliff after its impromptu fall. A few moments later, it slowly began to shift before ever so delicately sitting up. Banged up and in pain though he was, the boy was alive, albeit with a searing headache.

Knowing full well from experience that sitting still while injured would only cause him more problems, especially in a Grimm infested forest after dark, the boy forced himself to his feet, tightly wrapping his tail around his waist as he began to shamble his way forward in search of something to help patch himself up. Clutching the top of his head with one hand to try and prevent further damage, he slowly made his way deeper into the forest opposite the city, pushing what he'd just been through to the back of his mind. He'd worry about his next move and getting back on his feet later, now was the time to lick his wounds and attempt to fix himself up.

Stumbling forward almost drunkenly, he slowly but surely made his way through the myriad of trees marring his path, feeling his way along, his vision spotted at best until, all at once, he was driven to his knees by a sharp and sudden pain, ripping its way forward from his head. Before he could even begin to question what had happened, both his eyes and mind were assaulted by a sudden vision.

He saw the Moon. Not, as he was accustomed, in a shattered state drifting slowly through the heavens, no, the moon he saw now was nothing short of a perfectly unified sphere. Instead of a comforting and mysterious silver glow, this moon shone down with a sinister crimson light, lined with rings and dotted with odd, slightly curved and circular markings, glowering down at the Lands of Remnant as if it were the eye of some angry and omnipresent god.

Just as quickly as it had come, the image receded, taking with it any explanation behind and leaving an extremely confused boy in its wake.

"W-What the…?" he gasped out in shock, clutching at his head with both hands.

Forcing himself up, he threw himself forward in something resembling a dead sprint, slowed only by his still injured body. On and on he ran, ignorant of the sharp branches and thorns harshly biting into his skin, spurned on in equal measure by the somehow familiar sense of despair the image had invoked and his own desire to gain distance from the image itself.

It was all for naught.

The images continued, pouring forward in a rapid stream as if encouraged by his rapidly growing retreat, each more strange and bizarre than the last and bringing forth emotions foreign to the nameless child.

A strange bat-like humanoid creature, too grotesque to be any sort of Faunus, with long pale blue hair, dark brownish-grey skin and two large, malformed, hand-like wings sprouting from its back, holding what looked like a sphere of black lightning in its outstretched right hand and glaring at him with pure loathing… A strange looking old man with knee length spiky white hair in a high ponytail and odd red "tear" lines drawn underneath both eyes smiling down at him…Another strange man, this one with bright and spiky orange colored hair, accentuated by a medley of piercings through his nose and an oddly ominous pair of pale, violet colored-eyes, each with a set of concentric rings, much like the moon in his first vision, staring at him with indifference in a barren wasteland…A girl, no, a woman, a beautiful woman, with a head of dark bluish-black hair and a shining pair of pale, lavender colored eyes, looking upon him with pure and honest admiration, perhaps even more.

On and on the onslaught continued, unbidden as the boy sought only to escape, no longer caring for the damage he put his body through. Each image brought with it a powerful emotion, sorrow, happiness, rage … Love, each came and was just as quickly torn away as the image left him, and the inner turmoil this caused was threatening to overwhelm him. One thing was for certain, if they did not cease soon, he would either be confronted by their origin, or driven to madness.

Finally, unable to withstand the mental trauma any longer, he collapsed to his knees once again, this time in a large forest clearing, which was home to a small reflecting pool. It was here, under the silver glow of Remnants shattered moon that he was struck by another vision, this one striking him with a level of ferocity yet unseen. One so great he could only pray that it was the last, screwing his eyes shut in pain as it came upon him.

Opening his eyes slowly, the boy was met by a sight which convinced him of what he now perceived as his total descent into insanity. There, sitting on its haunches in front of him in a pool of ankle deep water, was a fox. Not just any fox, no, but a fox which streched at least 100 feet tall, with dark burnt orange fur (the same color as his tail he noted absently), piercing red eyes which bespoke of a feral nature, and nine, yes, **Nine** huge tails swishing in the air behind its back.

This vision came through with a greater sense of clarity than the others, allowing him to take in the Beast's full appearance as it sat in what appeared to be some sort of sewer. Absently taking note of what looked like broken cage doors on either side of the creature, he had stop himself from letting out a yell of surprise as he saw the Fox extend a large and furry fist towards him in invitation. As something resembling a smile spread across its fanged visage, the boy felt the distinct urge to run, deeply ingrained survival instincts pushing him to attempt some form of escape. However, before he could listen to them, the Beast's next action froze him where he stood, as his eyes bulged out in shock.

It spoke.

 **IT SPOKE!**

That's right; the 100-foot-tall 9-tailed fox spoke in plain English. Smile still firmly on its face, the Fox spoke in a rough, deep, and guttural voice, denoting its primal nature "Ready to give'em Hell, Partner?" it asked with a sense of both bestial amusement and eagerness in its tone, not unlike what he would expect from a predator which had found a new form of prey.

Let it be known that he could have attempted to run right then. At that point, having discovered a creature large enough to dispatch entire packs of Ancient Ursa and intelligent enough to speak, he would have been totally justified to attempt a fear fueled retreat. Yet, something held him back.

For some reason, standing there in that pool of ankle deep water, staring up at the gargantuan creature before him, it wasn't fear that he felt. No, fear was the furthest thing from his mind. If anything, as the Fox held out its fist to him, he felt excitement. Pure unadulterated exhilaration, as if nothing in the world could stop him.

Without any conscious effort on his part, he felt his body reach out a fist and bump it against the Fox's before hearing himself answer. In a voice far stronger and more confident than he had ever recalled himself using he replied to the Fox's question with "You have to ask? Let's go kick some tail Partner!"

After making his declaration, the boy felt a shift, somewhere deep inside of his being. All at once a keen sense of understanding overtook him, as if a light had illuminated a longstanding darkness in the pits of both his mind and soul. As he stood there, arm still extended, the image of the smirking Fox having long since faded away into a white nothingness, he felt as though he might finally be able to understand who he was.

But something still wasn't right.

He knew of his own life, and he knew of the life shown in the Visions. He knew that he'd played a part in that life, and in the lives of the people he'd seen. He understood he'd been a hero.

But he didn't know who he had been.

The information was there. He could feel it, just beyond his reach, but something held it back. Frustrated, he forced the nagging sense of longing he felt to the back of his mind until he could afford to devote his full energy to it.

Shaking his head in a vain effort to clear it, the boy began to hobble his way forward before collapsing at the edge of the reflecting pool on all fours, exhausted both physically and mentally.

Taking a moment to try and recompose himself, he began to examine his own appearance in the pools water, trying to get a grasp on how badly he was hurt.

Battered, bruised and covered in grime with a disturbing line of red marring the center of his forehead though he was, he was still able to make out his most distinct features. Two deep, ocean blue eyes stared back at him from the waters depths, reflecting his exhaustion with the almost total lack of light behind them. His unmistakable head of bright and sunny blond hair remained visible, even if it was matted down by a mix of dirt and dried blood. Finally, through the layer of dirt that covered him, he was just able to discern a set of six, whisker-like marks overlaying lightly tanned, sun kissed skin, three on each cheek, denoting his Faunus heritage and giving him a slightly feral look.

It was then that something strange began to happen.

As he took in his own appearance, the Visions that had forced their way into his consciousness began to resurface, stronger than they had at first. The longer he sat there, the stronger they became, seeming to resonate within him, practically screaming in their quest for some form of acknowledgement. On and on it built in his chest until finally, mercifully, he was left with a one, single outstanding message. It was a single word.

"Naruto"

He said the word out loud slowly, as if testing it. It felt foreign and odd, and yet, at the same time, somehow familiar. With a sudden spark of recognition, a huge grin split its way across his face, as all at once everything seemed to fall into place.

On an impulse, he dunked his head forward in to the cool, clear water, clearing it of a large amount of the debris marring his visage. Resurfacing a few moments later, he threw his head back in an uproar of joyous laughter. Falling back onto his back, he called out for the entire world and even the heavens to hear: "MY NAME IS NARUTO UZUMAKI!"

Lying there, staring up at Remnants shattered moon, bathed underneath its silver glow, the previous nameless boy had no way of knowing.

He had no way of knowing that on that day, seemingly like any other, the World of Remnant had gained a new champion. On that day, the Legend of Naruto Uzumaki was not born, but Reborn.

 **Authors Note**

 **Hello Ladies and Gentleman of the Internet, my name is Reflective599, and I'd like to welcome you to my first official fanfic!**

 **Alright, first things first, let's talk about this story. I plan to take it through all three volumes of Rwby and the upcoming Vol.4 once it comes out and finishes. The romance in this may (key word, there) evolve into a harem later on, but Naruto x Nora is assured, so for those who came in for that, bear that in mind.**

 **Understand, my ability to write romance is, limited, but I know what I like to read. Any relationships I write, no matter how farfetched, will always pan out slowly. I prefer letting them develop, and grow overtime instead of forming instantly.**

 **Now rather I can manage that convincingly or not is a different story, but know that that is my intention, if that doesn't interest you, I apologize. I'm not fully adept at writing deeply involved romance or action scenes as of yet, so when those start popping up, feel free to give feedback and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism!**

 **No Flames!**

 **Okay, now that** _ **that's**_ **out of the way, I'm gonna be perfectly honest: I didn't expect this story to get any kind of popular anytime soon. That's part of the reason it didn't originally have an Authors Note. However, now that it does have people following it, I'll try my best to get out chapters as quickly as possible, but, at the same time they may also take awhile. I want to put my best foot forward with this story, so it may take time to get them to the highest quality possible. Between that and heading to college, they may not come for some time.**

 **Please feel free to Review, Favorite and Follow. Let me know how I'm doing so far. Any support is well and truly appreciated, but like I said, NO FLAMES!**

 **So, with all that said, I'm Reflective599, and thank you for reading, PEACE!**


	2. A New Purpose

Disclaimer: Still don't own "Naruto" or "Rwby"

Ch.2

A New Purpose

After his brief rush of adrenaline had subsided, the boy, now going by Naruto, made an attempt at bandaging his still damaged skull; getting some use out of the cloth of the rags he considered clothes. Following his admittedly amateur attempts at self-remedy, he had allowed himself the luxury of falling asleep, self-assured that the mixture of his heightened senses and joyful thoughts would be enough to keep the resident Grimm from taking a late-night bite out of him.

Awakening a few hours later after the sun had risen, and after making sure that he still had all of the necessary appendages attached from the night before, the blonde fox boy eased his way to his feet before slowly making his way deeper into the forest, mind still weighed down by the knowledge he gained the night before.

After all, it wasn't every day you found out you were some kind of reincarnation.

At least, that's what figured, based on what he'd seen. It was an, odd feeling, suddenly discovering you had once been more than one person. Contrary to popular belief (or at least those expressed by the more… _eccentric_ bums he had come across) it wasn't as though he had suddenly become another person. He remembered who he had been before he had become privy to his past life, and that part of him was still very much alive. If anything, it had gotten stronger, amplified by the access to the memories his other self-provided.

No, the nameless and orphaned Fox Faunus he had been before this change wasn't going anywhere. The only real difference, if any, was far subtler, centering more on his physical being than his mental one.

Even now, focused as he was on edging his way through the trees, he felt himself taking in his surroundings in ways he hadn't the day before, ways he hadn't even known he could. Every cell in his body giving him some form of input as he picked his way through the evergreen branches, beyond what even his ingrained animal instincts could give him. Every step, every sensation painting a detailed picture in ways that his eyes couldn't even imagine.

But it was deeper than that. With every step his bare feet took, crunching over the sprigs of grass and dead leaves littering the ground, a deep sense of resonance would echo its way through his bones. As his fingers made contact with the rough bark or damp moss of the trees, he could swear he almost felt them pulse with some sort of unseen energy, responding to his touch.

All in all, it was as if the forest itself was speaking to him, communicating with a part of himself which had not been present the day before.

It wasn't too hard to guess where this connection had come from based on the memories that had flitted through his dreams, but that hadn't stopped him from being surprised. The idea that his training in Senjutsu had carried over from his past life, alongside his survival instincts no less, shocked him. It made him wonder what else may have come along with it to be honest.

A deep rumbling noise, followed by a small wave of dizziness quickly tore him away from his musings before he could delve into them any deeper. Not sensing any Grimm or wildlife in his immediate area, it took him all of half a second to find where the noise had come from. Once he'd figured it out, he immediately began searching for some method of quelling his ever present and ever-growing hunger.

Pushing his way forward (and avoiding some oblong-shaped, orange berries that his instincts screamed were bad news for some reason), he was lucky enough to stumble across a small bushel of apples while taking part in a past time rare among the people of Remnant, i.e. looking up.

Quickly shimmying his way up the tree which was home to the delicious red orbs, it wasn't long before the young Fox boy was reclining on one of its thicker branches, happily and savagely tearing into their sweet red flesh.

After eating his fill, he reclined against the tree's trunk with a contented sigh. From his perch, he had an excellent view of the forest clearing below, as he allowed himself to relax, simply enjoying the feel of the sun and warm air against the tender flesh of his still damaged body. Closing is eyes, he was just about to try and take a small nap when he was jolted back to full awareness by a feral and angry roar, just before he was made aware of his instincts screaming at him for attention.

Inching his way forward, the boy was met with a sight that would have thrown any lesser man into hysterics.

Standing there, in the center of the clearing, was a woman.

She was a Huntress if the twin blades she wielded were anything to go by. She had a light mocha-colored complexion, with short, straight brown hair. She wore an off-white blouse with a brown vest, corset and pants. She also had a gold bracer on her left arm, two gold bracelets on her right wrist and a pair of golden armored boots. From what he could tell, she couldn't have been more than 18 or 19 years old.

With all that said, it wasn't the woman herself that drew his attention. Heck, it wasn't even the scowl that marred her admittedly attractive face. No, the thing that drew his attention was the fact that she was surrounded and facing off against an entire army of Grimm!

Row upon row of Ursa, Beowolves, Borbatusks, and Creepers, some young some ancient, all converging on the woman, each looking more than ready to tear her lithe body to shreds, while she herself already appeared worse for wear. Her blouse was torn, shredded by what looked to be a set of claws, while he could just make out a frightening amount of red beginning to color the tattered edges. Despite this, the woman stood strong, her dual blades, tearing through beast after beast, doing all she could to thin their number, only for each beast she cut down to be replaced by one more vicious then the last, each snapping and clawing with greater fervor than their predecessors, all vying to be the one to finally put an end to her resistance.

' _She's… Going to die…_ ' Naruto thought with a start, eyes widening in horrid realization as the woman was slowly pushed to the center of the clearing.

He was watching someone's last stand. Don't get him wrong, he knew the woman was strong; she had to be to be a full-fledged Huntress, but hurt and outnumbered as she was? Add onto that that she was facing off against them single handedly, and she stood as much of a chance against them as a snowball in the middle of Vacuo.

Except, she wasn't alone.

Naruto had seen her. He could help her!

But something stayed his hand.

Though he had never met her, from what he could tell she was a human. He'd crossed paths with dozens of her kind living on the streets of Atlas, and he'd already had his fill of them. Anytime he found himself under attack, the ones not participating would just turn away, no matter how public the assault may have been, fully intent on ignoring his plight, silently supporting the actions taken if the sneers he'd often see on most of their faces were anything to go by, as if he deserved it for simply existing in their presence.

So it begged the question, why should he risk his own neck just to help her, when if the roles were reversed she'd probably have left him without even a backwards glance, if not a keen level of satisfaction?

Besides, he wasn't even sure if he could help. Granted, his past life had been powerful, more than a match for any Hunter or Huntress of this day and age, but he himself had never been in an actual fight. It was a matter of survival for the small boy, better to get what you need and run than risk unneeded injury by staying and trying to fight. Best case scenario, even if he did try and help, they'd both die.

With that in mind, he began to turn away from the scene, still trying to rationalize his actions. ' _She might make it._ ' he thought to himself. He didn't know who she was, and he might've been underestimating her. Besides, he didn't even have a weapon, what could he do?

As if his flesh itself couldn't stand his act of cowardice, his retreat was halted by a sudden and sharp pain in his hands. Looking down at them with confusion, he was shocked to see ten sharp, vulpine like claws jutting out from where his fingernails had been, seeming to gleam in response to his earlier questions, as if to say _"Here are your weapons, what excuse do you have now?"_

Turning back, he stared down to where the woman now stood, having managed to put some distance between herself and her attackers, escaping to the rightmost side of clearing. He watched with hesitation as she planted one of her blades in the ground and turned the other into what looked like an oversized handgun so she could check her wound, still unsure if he should help. Even if he was armed, there was no guarantee he would do any good. He didn't even have good reason help her.

It was then, that a thought struck him. Whether it came from the presence of his past self or from deep within his own being he didn't know. He did have reason, it was just so simple he had overlooked it, lost among the medley of his conflicting ideals and emotions.

He was Naruto Uzumaki, and he never abandoned anyone.

He couldn't have left her there even if he had wanted to. It just wasn't in his nature to let people be hurt when he could do something about it. It never would be.

With that thought in mind, he turned himself around fully, staring down as the woman and Grimm charged at one another. A look of determination made its way to his face as he prepared to pounce. Clenching his fists, one final thought crossed his mind:

' _Dear Oum, I wish I had a better plan than this!'_

And with that, he jumped into the fray.

0

Amber was not having a good day.

It had started off simple enough. She had just gotten through with a mission to help defend an Atlesian forest outpost from a particularly headstrong pack of Beowolves. It hadn't taken long for her to dispatch them, and once she'd finished, she'd taken a moment to relax in the outposts main room, fully intent on getting a little R&R after she'd been debriefed and made it back to Mistral.

At least that had been the plan.

What had actually happened was that a little after she'd sat down; she'd gotten an urgent message from Ozpin, saying he needed to speak with her in Vale as soon as possible. She'd frowned when she'd gotten the message, it had been months since she'd been to her home Kingdom and Vale was far out of her way, but she'd shrugged and sent back a message saying she'd come see him as soon as she could anyway. It wasn't that hard of a request, and she'd figured another week or two between kingdoms wouldn't kill her. Besides, she'd always had a soft spot for the eccentric old headmaster.

With that in mind she'd set out into the surrounding forests of Atlas, opting to go on foot to better enjoy the scenery, fully confident in her ability handle any wayward Grimm she crossed paths with.

As she'd walked, her senses stretched out to warn her any danger; she'd allowed her mind to wander, aimlessly meandering from one topic to another with no real set purpose. After a while, her thoughts began to drift to the reason Ozpin had suddenly wanted to see her out of the blue like he had. As nice as she knew he could be, the man rarely did anything without some purpose in mind, and for him to mark any message as urgent was … _Concerning_ , to say the least.

She had shaken her head to assuage her worries. Even if it was a little odd, it wasn't completely out of character for the white-haired man to call back old students. For all she knew, he just wanted to see how she was doing after her early graduation.

It was that line of thinking that had landed her in the mess she was in.

As she'd continued on, no real path in mind, her thoughts began to stray unbidden to memories of her late older sister, Coral Moon, and as joyful as some of them may have been, they did nothing to hide that the older sister she'd loved, her last living relative no less, was gone, leaving her alone.

A Huntress who had travelled and fought alone, Coral had been her hero, a paragon of what being a Huntress meant, who had inspired her to pursue the profession herself. Alas, unbeknownst to her as she'd progressed through her third (and ultimately final) year at Beacon, Coral's life came to a tragic end, having been struck down by odds too great for even her to surmount, dying in a last-ditch effort to defend the fleeing members of the wandering colony she had been sent to protect from the flood of Grimm seeking to eradicate it.

As her thoughts had turned to her sister and what had happened to her only a few months prior, she couldn't help the upwelling of emotion that came with the memories, the stark cloud of sadness they often brought washing over her in an unrelenting torrent.

And that sadness had brought the Grimm.

She'd been expecting them honestly, even as she'd delved deeper into her memories. As of late, the Grimm had seemed almost drawn to her, coming in greater numbers and attacking with greater ferocity then she'd ever experienced. Thoughts of her sister never failed to draw them forward, so when she'd had to dodge the wild swing of a Beowulf as it caught sight of her, she hadn't exactly been surprised.

What had surprised her had been the sheer number of Grimm that had appeared. Based on what she had seen recently, she had expected, at most, a larger than average pack of Beowolves or perhaps an even a larger than average group of Ursa, but this was far beyond what she had imagined. It was as if every Grimm in the area had decided to attack her at once!

That hadn't stopped her from fighting though. As more and more Grimm poured in, she'd given as good as she got, even after an Ursa had gotten in a lucky shot after her Aura had begun to flicker. She'd continued to fight even as the odds against her increased, her twin blades slashing down one beast after another, as the battle tore its way through the forest, one thought spurning her on:

' _NOT LIKE THIS!'_

The battle had continued for what felt like hours as she cut down Grimm after Grimm, until they finally came to a stop in center of a forest clearing, just managing to put some distance between her and the encroaching horde.

Her vision blurring, she planted one of her blades before changing the other to its gun form. Weapon ready, she placed the now freed hand to her still wounded side, withdrawing it only to see it slick, bathed in a dark crimson. She stared at it in shock for a moment, her mind almost unable to comprehend the sight of her own blood, despite her use of aura, before she clenched the hand in anger. Tearing her other blade from the ground, she transformed its partner back to its blade form with a practiced ease. Gripping them firmly in hand, she charged at the Grimm who, on some unspoken signal, did the same, fully intent on taking as many down with her before she fell.

Only she wasn't alone.

It happened so quickly that she almost passed it off as a blood-loss driven hallucination.

Then an Ursa died.

A small golden-orange blur had descended from the trees as she'd made her final charge, and had begun to tear into the Grimm.

Launching itself from the Ursa it had killed before the beast faded to ash, it quickly put an end to both a Beowulf and another Ursa before making its way to her side, the older and smarter Grimm around them keeping their distance from this new foe and blocking the paths of their younger kin.

Blinking, Amber looked at the small form that had landed next to her, making out a bright-orange white tipped foxtail and a head of sunny blonde hair as she did.

"Kid, what are you doing here?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at what could only be a small Faunus.

The child (and at that size, what else could he be?) stretched his arms out to his sides, allowing her to see the claws present on each of his hands before answering "Helping! Fight now, questions later, 'kay?"

Without waiting for her reply, the boy charged back into the recovering mass of Grimm, Amber following shortly afterwards, questions about her new ally pushed to the side in favor of her continued survival.

0

"What were you thinking?!" the woman, now identified as Amber Moon, practically yelled as she bandaged up his wounds.

The fight had gone relatively quickly after they both dived in to attack. Between her Huntress training and his instinct driven Wildman tactics and acrobatics, they'd managed to kill off the majority of the evolved Grimm to the point that the rest of them had decided to retreat, probably evolving later because of the amount of brain power the action took.

When it had become apparent that the fighting was over, they had dragged themselves and each other into the forest to recuperate and patch themselves up with the pocket-sized med-kit Amber kept in case of dire emergencies.

He hissed when she tightened the gauze around his arm before turning around "I was thinking you could use some help lady." He said with some hostility, annoyed at her tone, as his eyes travelled to her recently bandaged side "It didn't exactly look like you were doing so hot before I jumped in."

Hearing the accusation in his voice, she sighed as she focused on securing the gauze around a wound on his arm "Okay, first of all, I had it under control. Second of all- "

"Bull."

She blinked and looked up at the interruption "Excuse me?"

"I called bull on that." He said standing up with his back to her "You were going to die before I jumped in."

"I was not!" she practically yelled.

He turned around abruptly, giving her a look of aggravation as she felt sudden the need to avert her eyes as he seemed far older than he was.

"Yes, you were. You almost died, I didn't want to watch it happen, I stepped in. End of story, now let's move on.

Biting back a growl, Amber persisted "No its not! You need to understand- "

"ENOUGH!"

She stopped short as the boy yelled, shocked at the amount of anger behind it and the full-scale glare he had leveled her with.

He took a breath to calm himself before continuing "Look. I jumped in to help, you don't appreciate that I did, and now it's all over. End of story. See you if I see you. Bye."

Having said his piece, the boy turned on his heel and began to walk away.

"Wait!" she called before he got too far, forcing herself to a knee to be level with him.

He stopped but didn't turn around.

Taking that as a sign that he was listening, she continued "Look kid- "

"Naruto" he interrupted.

"What?"

"My name isn't "Kid", its Naruto."

She took a breath "Fine then, Naruto. It's not that I don't appreciate what you did, it's just…"

He turned to face her as she grasped for words to match her thoughts

"…I'm a Huntress! It's my job to protect people like you! I'm not supposed to need help like this!"

Now, under most circumstances, Naruto would have been aggravated by the apparent arrogance of what the woman had said. Now however, he could only raise an eyebrow in confusion.

Something in the way she had spoken seemed…Off. It didn't come off as arrogance, at least not to him. Honestly, it sounded…Desperate, scarily desperate, like she was in denial that the idea of her being in need of help was even possible.

Deciding to exercise a touch of caution based on his past life's experiences with distraught women, Naruto began to speak slowly.

"Listen lady, you're not an immortal. It doesn't matter how much training you go through; you can still be hurt. That's just the way life is. You shouldn't feel ashamed for needing help."

She looked up at him when he began to speak, silently asking him to continue.

Not expecting her to actually listen to him, he started scrambling to scrape up some sort of continuation "Look, from what I've picked up, Hunter's and Huntresses work in teams while training right?" He paused for her to nod before continuing "Well, you'd expect your teammates to watch your back, right?" She gave another nod "Than that's all I was! A random teammate you didn't know you had."

When he saw her about to protest, he waved her down before continuing.

"Look, I chose to help you. I didn't have to, almost didn't if I'm honest, but I did. If things had gone wrong, it would have been my choice that put me in the middle of it, simple as that, so don't worry about. Okay?"

Biting back the retort she had been about throw his way, she stopped to consider his words. They did kind of make sense. Why would they train her with teammates if they didn't expect her to work with others every once in a while. Heck, she'd worked with Atlas personnel before, and they were far from Hunter level fighters. Speaking of Atlesians…

"Alright then Ki- Naruto, I don't like it, but I can deal with it."

He gave her a close-eyed smile "That's all I ask."

With that, he turned and began to try and leave.

"Hold on a minute!" he heard before he could get too far.

Turning around, he saw Amber supporting herself on the trunk of a tree, giving him an appraising look.

"Alright, I've made it pretty obvious that I don't like what you did. The proper course of action would be to reprimand you, and then take you back to Atlas for the authorities to handle."

Naruto breathed in sharply and averted his gaze. _'And, there it is…'_

Before he could make a run for it, she continued. "That would be the responsible thing." She nodded to herself, before she smirked, "But I'm not going to do that."

He looked up at her in surprise, before his face settled into a look of suspicion "Why?"

She frowned inwardly at his reaction, but the smirk on her face only grew wider "You helped a lot today kid, what kind of person I would be if I turned in my new "teammate" for backing me up?"

He raised an eyebrow in interest "Fair enough."

"So, with that in mind, it just kind of hit me: I'm going to be in these woods for a while, and I could use a travelling companion, who better than my new teammate?"

His eyes widened in surprise at the implication, but he couldn't help himself from questioning it "Are-are you asking to come with you?"

Her smirk turned into a full-on smile "You got it little man. So, how about it?"

Naruto could only stand there in shock at the opportunity. Could he do it? Could he trust her? Granted they fought together, but that was in the heat of the moment, if he agreed to this, it could be so much more. Could he trust this human woman, not to shun him? Could he…Have a friend?

He looked into her eyes, looking for any sign of deceit, or the usual hatred he saw in the eyes of the humans that came across, but found none, there was only _kindness._ And it was directed at him.

' _What do I have to lose_?'

With a wide smile he answered "It would be my honor, Amber-Neechan!"

 **Authors Note**

 **And CUT! That's Chapter two done for you lovely people.**

 **Hello, Ladies & Gentlemen, for those new around here, my mane is Reflective599 and this is the second chapter of my very first fanfic!**

 **And before you even ask, yes, I cringed as much writing that last line as you did reading it.**

 **Wanted to try it once, and almost immediately regret it.**

 **Ah, well.**

 **Now then, let start with the technicals: This chapter (and hopefully many in the future if she doesn't get too annoyed with me) was beta'd by my friend, the phenomenal Snowtime, of Ten-Tailed Jumper fame. Be sure to check her stuff out, most if not all of it is downright hilarious.**

 **With that being said though, I'll be honest, I'm not really a big fan of this chapter. I'm not supremely confident yet in my ability to write convincing dialogue, so if it came off as a bit …forced, that's why. I apologize, with any luck it came out decently enough, and I'll have improved by the next chapter.**

 **Finally, the next chapter will include the much needed time skip and a segue into Naruto's adventures at Beacon to begin officially.**

 **With all that said, I'm Reflective599, and thank you for reading, PEACE!**

 **(Follow!Favorite!Review!)**


	3. A New Goal

Disclaimer: Do I really need to say I don't own Rwby or Naruto over every chapter? Well, either way , I don't, so…Yeah.

Ch.3

A New Goal

9 years…

It had been 9 years since that day and in that time the boy now known as Naruto had grown.

Gone was the tiny emaciated Faunus boy that had been ran into the forest all those years ago, in his place stood a strong and capable young man ready to take on whatever the world threw at him.

And it had all started with his impulsive trust in a human.

 _!FLASHBACK!_

 _Despite the awkward start to their relationship, the two companions quickly grew to enjoy each other's company. As they travelled, Amber passed the time by telling her young charge stories of her times at Beacon and on the road._

 _Never one to be outdone, Naruto had responded by telling her some of the more "PG" bits of his childhood in Atlas, such as his successful food raids and the times he narrowly evaded law enforcement._

 _Amber paid close attention to his stories, his tones and style of speech bringing the tales to life with stunning clarity, just barely restraining herself from bursting into fits of laughter as he spoke of the more elaborate pranks and traps he had sprung to avoid capture._

 _As much as they were in good humor, it didn't stop her from eventually bringing up one blaringly obvious question which dampened the mood._

" _If you were doing so well, how come you ended up out here in the forest?"_

 _The question was simple, if a tad blunt, baring only curiosity, however, she could tell she had made a mistake when he had immediately clammed up. Seeming to curl into himself, he had responded with a quiet "I fell." Before walking on, refusing to say more._

 _Attempting to read between the lines in the awkward silence that followed, Amber pieced managed to piece together a theory of what had actually happened before broaching the topic again a few days later, this time with far more subtlety._

 _Reluctantly, Naruto broke down and told her the story in response to her gentle coaxing (minus the reincarnation-y parts, of course), against what he'd considered his better judgment. He had been afraid she wouldn't believe him over the "shining" reputation and credibility of the Schnee Dust Company, and would abandon him for "lying". It wouldn't have been too much of a stretch._

 _Her response had surprised him. Instead of getting angry and yelling at him for telling the ugly truth, she'd listened to every word he had said with an unreadable expression, calmly taking in everything and even asking questions to clarify at some points. When he was done, then she had gotten angry._

" _Those no-good, dirty, rotten, bigoted, motherfu- "She cut herself off with a deep breath before she could say something she would regret. This was not the time to act rashly, she would need to keep her wits in this situation, and besides, no matter how tough he seemed to be, she shouldn't speak that way in front of such a young and innocent young chil-_

" _Ckers" the boy said helpfully, noticing where she had left off._

… _Well, she still shouldn't have lost her temper and talked that way, but the very idea of it infuriated her. How could anyone treat someone, let alone a child, the way these people had? And worse, it was a company she had bought her ammo from._

 _She had never particularly liked the Schnee family. She had met their eldest daughter, (Winnie, Winifred, something like that), a girl a year or two younger than herself during last year's Vytal Festival, and she could say with complete certainty that she had never met a more arrogant girl in all of her life. Even so, and even with all the rumors she had heard while at Beacon, she had never thought them capable of something like this, (at least until now)!_

 _She gave the boy in front of her an appraising look, taking note of the threadbare white two-piece Atlesian jumpsuit he wore as it clung to his thin frame. It would have been too small for him if he weren't so skinny. Nodding to herself, she stood up, rousing the boy's attention from where he'd been sitting since he'd begun his tale._

" _Alright then Nar" she started using her nickname for him "I've got a proposition for you."_

 _He gave a smirk "Why Amber, I know it's hard resist my animal magnetism, but aren't you little old for m- "_

" _NOT THAT KIND OF PROPOSITION YOU LITTLE JERK!" she screamed, punching him in the top of the head, a deep blush staining her cheeks._

" _OW, dang it woman take a joke!" He exclaimed, clutching at his abused skull._

" _Just my luck I'd come across the only pervy seven-year-old in all of Remnant" she grumbled, cheeks still dusted pink "Are you ready to listen now?"_

" _Yeah, yeah" he mumbled_

 _She took a breath "Alright then, as I was saying, how you would like for me to train you?"_

 _Seeing his confused look, she continued, a tad bit embarrassed at her own bluntness._

" _W-Well" she started awkwardly," You just said you're out her because a bunch of jerks decided to attack you, I figured I could help you learn how to defend yourself a little better. I mean, you saw what happened with the Grimm, imagine what you could do to a pack of goons with some actual training under your belt."_

 _She smirked as she watched the boy's confused look morph into a downright predatory grin, as he cracked his knuckles "Bring it."_

 _From that day forward, she had attempted to train him in the ways of the Hunter. Attempted, because, at her own admittance, she had never tried to teach anyone before him._

 _Despite her lack of teaching experience, he quickly made up for it with his desire to learn. She had only planned to teach him a few basic moves, something to refine the instinct driven fighting style she had seen him use against the Grimm, but he had blown through those in less than an hour after she'd first shown him, leaving her slack-jawed as he mastered fighting maneuvers that took students in schools like Signal weeks to get a decent grip on._

 _Each day continued on in much the same way. Blade-work, marksmanship, strategy, he absorbed it all like a sponge before coming back for more. Heck, near the end she'd ended up teaching him to read and write, not just because he needed, but because she couldn't think of anything else to try and teach him._

 _This went on for three weeks, until, finally, their time together had come to an end, saying their goodbyes at the gate leading into Atlas city limits._

" _You sure I can't convince you to come with me? "She asked just outside the guard station" At the very least, I can probably swing you a decent place to stay in the city. They have some pretty nice apartments for cheap around town, if you know where to look._

 _He only smiled "Thanks for the offer Amb, but I've been down that road before" he said, thinking about his past life's living arrangements "I think I'll stick to the great outdoors for a while, see how I make it on my own out here, ya know?_

 _Seeing the indecision in her eyes, he gave her arm a light slap "Hey, don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I'm a pretty tough guy in case you haven't noticed. Besides, I've been trained by one of the best, remember?"_

 _She gave a small smile "And don't you forget it! Which reminds me, I've got a couple of presents for you."_

 _Raising an eyebrow in confusion, it quickly turned to shock as he watched her take the X-shaped sheath that housed her segmented twin gun blades, unnamed as of yet, and hand them off to him._

 _Taking a hold of them, he began to stammer at the gesture "B-but, what will you use? You're good, but you need a weapon way more than I do!" He quickly tied to hand them back._

 _She waved him off, gently pushing the blades back into his arms "Don't worry about it. They never really fit my style anyway. I'm more of a mid to long range fighter, you know that. I'll pick up a staff or something later on. It's no big deal."_

" _Besides "She smirked "You've trained to be a hunter; I figured you'd need a Hunter's weapons."_

 _Still reeling from the gift, he slowly strapped the sheath to his back. It was a bit (read: Way to!) big for his small frame, but he'd positioned it so it wasn't overly awkward. He'd grow into it later. "I'll do you proud Amber-Neechan." he said with a salute._

 _Barely stopping herself from cooing at how cute the sight was to her, Amber continued "I know you will; now close your eyes, I got one more present for you."_

 _Trying hard not to make a joke, the reincarnated fox-boy did as he was told as he felt the girl place two fingers on the center of his forehead, listening as she began to chant:_

 _For it is in passing that we achieve immortality._

 _Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all._

 _Infinite in distance and unbound by death_

 _I release your soul_

 _And by my shoulder_

 _Protect thee_

 _It started off slowly, nothing more than a warm sensation in the center of his chest, but as she finished her small speech, it rapidly expanded before practically exploding outward and encompassing the entirety of his body._

" _Whoa" he breathed, barely able to comprehend what he'd just felt._

 _Amber smirked "Whoa indeed little man. That right there is your Aura, not bad right?"_

" _Not bad at all" he breathed, still trying to get a grip on this new energy overlaying his body. This new energy at once felt wholly familiar and entirely alien at one time. He remembered the "Chakra" he had wielded in his original life, the feel of it within his body as he shaped and trained it, but he couldn't quite say that this was the same. Whereas his Chakra had always felt somewhat chaotic, always needing to be reined in to be used effectively, this new energy, this Aura, held a more calming sensation. If he had to compare the two, Aura was the calm lake to Chakras churning sea. One needed to be controlled, the other sought it out._

 _He was drawn out of his analysis as the woman in front of him began to speak again "That one's a two-parter, but you'll have find the second half yourself" She said, considering the possibilities for his Semblance "Until you do, the built-in shield and healing ought to keep you out of too much trouble without me."_

" _Aww that takes all the fun out of it" he jokingly griped "What's life without a little trouble to spice things up."_

 _She smirked "Don't worry runt" she said mussing his hair, smiling as he scowled at both her action and choice of nickname "I'm sure you'll get into plenty of trouble somehow."_

 _He gave her a mock glare, before they both had a small laugh at her accurate words, settling into a comfortable silence afterwards_

 _Without warning, Amber ended the moment, planting a soft kiss on his forehead, surprising him as she spoke "Take care of yourself, little brother. I know you'll make me proud, so try and stick around long to tell me about your adventures later, okay?"_

 _Realizing this was a sign that their time together had officially reached its end he responded, attempting to hide the emotion seeking to color his voice "Y-yeah, of course. When we meet up again, I'll have all sorts of stories to tell! It's a promise!"_

 _She gave a sad smile "I'll hold you to that."_

 _With no more to say, they embraced, each just barely able to avoid allowing any tears to fall, only now realizing just how close they'd grown since their first meeting._

" _Take care Naru" she said as they separated, and began to make her way toward the gate_

" _You too Amb." He replied, making his trek back into the forest, waving a hand in goodbye as he went._

 _Looking back only once before reentering the city, Amber was met by the image of the small boy, fist in the air, as he prepared to take on the wild, this time alone._

 _! FLASHBACK END!_

He allowed himself a small smile from his place, perched in a tree much as he had been on that first day all those years ago, the memory of his and his surrogate sister's time together still fresh after all this time. Not a day went by that he didn't reflect on how it had changed him.

From that day forward he had lived off the land, hunting and battling the random packs of Grimm he came across, always practicing and improving, sharpening his skills with both his claws and his blades until many would consider him a master of both.

With that said, it wasn't all practice and survival. He did occasionally find his way into various… extracurricular activities that served their own purposes.

Speaking of which…

He was startled from his position as he saw an emergency beacon burst through the lower canopy of the forest. Smirking to himself, he positioned his blades on his back before tree jumping to the area from where it had originated.

Time to have a little _fun…_

0

James Ironwood, General of the Atlesian Military Force, was concerned.

This in of itself was not a huge surprise. One does not have an entire half of their body torn away from them or rise to his position afterwards, without developing a keen sense of paranoia in the initial days. No, the feeling itself was common for the graying General.

What made it a little more outside the norm was the fact that this concern was reoccurring.

It had first sprung up around 8 years ago, and at the time he hadn't put too much thought behind it.

A shipment of Dust ammunition, being transported under a _Schnee Company_ owned Bullhead, crashed in the forests outside of Atlas proper, the byproduct of an overzealous Nevermore's attack.

The crash itself wasn't unusual; it was what had happened to the crew of the ship that had thrown everyone for a loop. The crew in question had emerged from the forest a week and a half later, lacking the shipment, but otherwise alive and mostly unharmed save a few cuts and bruises, with no explanation as to how they'd arrived in that state.

The closest they'd gotten were the mildly panicked mutterings of the ships commanding officer, (Manchester something or other, if he remembered correctly), after attempting to debrief him. The poor man had practically run out of the forest, clothed in nothing but his underwear and a pair of boots as he raved in near hysterics. After he'd been calmed down (and properly clothed), the best they could get out of him were mutterings about a "Fox."

He had brushed it off at first, considering it nothing more than the mad ramblings of a man who couldn't handle the world outside of basic civilization without help, especially considering the man admitted he'd been losing consciousness when he'd seen the "creature". It was probably nothing more than the product of an over stimulated imagination.

Then he'd gotten another report.

This one had been from a group of rookie hunters, designated Team WNTR, if he wasn't mistaken, who reported "A Fox-like creature, flying out of the trees" and dispatching the Grimm when they would have been overwhelmed by them otherwise. This intervention is what had allowed them the time to escape, wounded though they may have been, and make their way to the city with their lives intact.

That's how it had gone for 8 straight years, and he had just about reached his wits end.

It never failed. Anyone, human or Faunus, Hunter or civilian, who found themselves stranded in those forests would always be returned within weeks, sometimes worse for wear, but always alive, with the only casualties being the Dust ammo shipments if a Schnee Company ship was unfortunate enough to go down.

After they returned, those involved in the crash would always speak of "A Fox-tailed creature leaping from the trees", to the point that this being had become an urban legend, "The Flying Fox of Atlas."

One he had yet to see proof of.

After each sighting, he would always send in a troop of soldier to survey the area and attempt to make contact with the supposed creature, but they would always return empty handed, never spotting anything even remotely matching the reports.

Though he hated to doubt the word of any Hunter or Huntress (some whom he had trained personally), he still found it hard to believe that there was something living in the forests aiding those in need. It sounded like some sort of fairy tale for Oum's sake! Though he had learned that _some_ such tales held more truth then he'd once believed, he still couldn't quite trust the reports at face value in the same way.

At least, not without seeing for himself.

So, when he caught the signal of an emergency beacon in the wooded area the "Fox" had seemingly been most active in, it provided him the perfect excuse to go out and search for some much-needed answers.

Now, if only he could stop himself from feeling like such a heel about it.

"Again Oz, sorry about this, just let me and my troops handle this and I promise I'll show you the best sights Atlas has to offer, I swear." He said as he maneuvered his personal airship to the emergency beacons last location, his voice an odd mix of guilt and familiarity.

His white-haired companion merely gave him a placating look, before waving off the apology "Not to worry James, I have plenty of time before I need to make my report to the Council" he said, his voice coloring with a hint of annoyance at the last word, before lightening at his next thought "Besides, anything that gets _you_ this excited must be more than worth the trip over, at the very least!"

The good General barely restrained himself from nervously scratching the back of his own head, a light dust of pink coloring his cheeks. Was he really that easy to read?

The bespectacled man smirked at his friend's reaction, glad to have set his old teammates mind at ease. Taking a sip of his favorite brew, his signature cup of coffee now occupying a thermos, he allowed his mind to wander on the possibilities for their destination.

Though he had spoken mostly in jest, trying to set the other man's mind at ease, he'd be lying if he said whatever had his old teammate so agitated wasn't… intriguing. His surrogate brother was nothing if not the quintessential military man; always attempting to maintain a strong air at all times and only relaxing (however slightly) when amongst friends. For something to have him this out of joint, even if they were alone, piqued the older headmaster's interest quite a bit.

Settling the ship down in a small forest clearing near where he had picked up the emergency beacons signal, Ironwood allowed the small contingent of troops he had brought for the mission to disembark from the main body of the ship, as he and Ozpin followed from their place in the ships cockpit.

Both men's faces had grown somber as they prepared for what they were likely to see.

It was an unspoken understanding amongst active duty Hunter's that an emergency Beacon was only to be used in the direst of situations. More often than not, when one was activated it wasn't to save whoever had fired it off.

It was to finish off whatever had managed to do them in, and cleanup the aftermath.

Approaching the forest clearing, they took note of the signs of struggle, following them further into the forest as they did. Jagged claw marks and bullet holes riddled many of the surrounding trees, a discarded child's doll and a shredded picnic blanket flung carelessly to the side telling the story of what had happened far better than words ever could.

Making their way forward, the group was suddenly halted by a sight which shocked all of them speechless.

There, body pressed against a tree, surrounded by a loose half circle of four Beowolves, was a Hunter.

A Mistralite if his garb were anything to go by, the man appeared to be in his early to mid 50s with a greying head of hair and beard, clutching at his right side with his left hand, the darkening fabric of the garment leaving no question as to what ailed him. To make matters worse, crouched behind his other outstretched arm were two young children, a boy and girl, each no older than 3 or 4, clinging to one another for comfort, as the man sought to protect them.

Quickly forcing himself to regain his composure, Ironwood immediately began trying to take control of the situation, silently signaling his men to surround the area in a perimeter to kill the Grimm as efficiently as possible, while they still held the element of surprise.

Seeing them move into position, he raised his arm from his place in the foliage, preparing to issue the order to fire as he saw his soldiers take aim.

He needn't have bothered.

Just as he was about to give the order, a vaguely humanoid-shaped blur shot down from the overhanging foliage, segmented blade already extended, quickly impaling one of the Beast's with the speed of his descent before anyone could even process his presence.

Having gained the pack's attention, the figure straightened before they had the time to react, rapidly switching his blade to its gun form with a practiced ease and training it on the leftmost Beowulf, only taking time to utter a simple warning to the wounded Hunter and children.

"Cover your ears."

Before firing, the point-blank Dust bullet quickly piercing the Grimm's skull as its assailant turned his attention elsewhere.

Seeing its pack mates go down so easily, the third Beowulf let loose a roar of rage, taking a wild swing at the yellow-haired animal-man that dared attack its kin.

Unseen to his silent audience, the boy smirked as the beast made its move, not even turning to face the beast as it attacked.

Instead, as the beast swung, the boy simply held up an aura laced forearm, allowing it to bear the brunt of the punishment as the attack was stopped dead in its tracks.

Before the Grimm could make another attempt, the boy had already latched on to its still outstretched arm, quickly flipping it over his shoulder and onto its back. Without hesitation, he proceeded to smash his fist into the now exposed flesh of its neck, killing it instantly as the strength behind the blow allowed it to pierce cleanly through the beast and leave cracks in the ground beneath.

Seeing this new predator's back turned, the final Beowulf, an Alpha if the extra Bone-spikes were any indication, chose to learn from its predecessor's mistakes, choosing to make a mad dash at the small Trio that had been its intended targets in the first place, rather than try and fight the stronger creature.

This had been a mistake.

Just as it had made its leap at the three, it found its momentum abruptly halted by a sharp tugging around its neck.

The young Faunus had been quick to respond to the Beast's renewed attempts on the three victims, instinctively clicking a button on his drawn weapon, transforming it as he swung. At his urging, the segments of his blade quickly extended into a whip-like form connected by chain links, latching onto the charging creature and halting its advance, even as the Beast thrashed for freedom.

"Not going to happen" he growled, before giving the handle of his blade a sharp tug, jerking the still struggling creature back with a grunt. With no hesitation, the boy popped the claws on his free hand, rapidly spearing it through the back and out the chest of the Beast as its once thrashing body quickly slowed before melting away to ash.

His task done, the boy slowly sheathed his blade, taking time to crack his neck before turning his attention to the children and their injured protector.

As he began to approach them, the Hunter tensed, while the two children began to shiver, clinging to one another in fear, terrified that they may have been found by a monster worse than the Grimm that had attacked them in the first place.

Unseen, Ironwood and his men tensed, watching for any sign of hostility out of what they presumed to be the infamous "Flying Fox."

Ozpin only looked on in interest.

Kneeling as he got within arm's reach, the boy directed his next words to the wounded Hunter "Hello, there." He said in a calm tone, offering a small smile in hopes of setting the trio at ease "I'd like to try and patch you up if you'll let me."

The Hunter gave the Faunus in front of him an appraising look, before he nodded, watching as the boy slowly reached inside his jacket and withdrew a med-pack with a severely scratched surface, retrieving a roll of gauze to treat him a few moments later.

Seeing the boy occupied with bandaging the wounded Hunter, Ironwood signaled for his men to move in, still wary of the threat the young man still represented, and cautious of his motivations, before moving forward himself.

This was an unwise decision.

Not even a second after his men had begun to move in, the boy had drawn one of his blades, quickly transforming it into its gun form and training it on his position.

His men all tensed as he drew his weapon, halting their approach as they trained their rifles on him, while the boy himself only continued to glare in his direction, never once showing any sign of lowering his weapon.

Seeing his action, the General decided to err on the side of caution and attempt an act of diplomacy.

Making no sudden moves, he slowly began to make his way forward with his hands raised, both to wave down his men and to assure the young man that he was unarmed, Ozpin following closely behind.

Though he did not lower his gun, the young man's eyes did flit to him as he approached, looking upon him with more caution then outright hostility.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, we come in peace." He started off good-naturedly, hoping to set the young Faunus at ease, "We just want to help, maybe have a little chat, especially now that your here. Look, I'll start, my name is- "

"James Ironwood" the boy interrupted, aim still trained on the older man "I'm aware."

Now don't misunderstand, in truth, Naruto held no real animosity toward the good General, his time with Amber having long since widdled away at the majority of his distrust towards humans. Having said that, there was something about the man that just… Unsettled him.

Maybe it was the good General's fascination with machinery that set him on edge, how he always seemed to be tinkering away, working to improve upon machines designed to replace human soldiers.

Make no mistake, the reasons they were built were sound, saving lives while still ending battles with the Grimm, but something about relying on soulless automatons, beings lacking emotions but programmed for absolute loyalty, and the completion of missions without question.

The idea of relying on beings so… _heartless_ made his skin crawl, it seemed far too inhumane, far too…Danzo.

Looking back on his time in Atlas (memories long since burned into his mind), he always remembered feeling uncomfortable whenever he caught sight of the General's eyes on the monitors overseeing the military's public weapon's displays.

Only now, with the memories of the former Naruto clear in his mind did he understand why. He recognized that look in the man's eye, had seen that spark of ambition before, hidden though it may have been, once, as he'd stood debriefing the Shinobi Council, shining in the lone eye of the crippled old war hawk.

The man before him was nowhere near as jaded as Danzo had been, and more than likely was far less willing to sacrifice any and all of his soldiers to achieve his own end goals, but the fact remained that there were similarities between the two, and that enough to make the reincarnated boy more than just a little wary of the graying older man.

He was pulled from his ponderings as the man in question cleared his throat.

"Yes, well" The man began again , somewhat awkwardly, unaccustomed to being interrupted "Be that as it may, I'd say we have bigger issues at hand than names at the moment." He stated, looking pointedly at the Ttio behind him before locking eyes with the young Faunus.

He held the general's gaze for a solid moment, before shifting his attention to the Trio of people behind him, taking special note of the red spot beginning to stain the bandages of his quick patch job, and making his decision.

"Agreed" he said, before moving to help the wounded Hunter up "I assume you and the four drones you have hidden in the forest have something a little more long-lasting to help him out."

"Of course" Ironwood responded with a slight nod, silently cursing. No wonder the boy had seemed so hostile after they'd first made their presence known, his senses must have picked up on the soldiers once they'd targeted him. This was not good.

Silently, at their Generals signal, two of said "Drones" moved forward, one quickly allowing the wounded Hunter to rest the majority of his weight on him. Before the guard began to escort him back to the ship, the Hunter locked eyes with Naruto before nodding at him "Thanks for the help kid, once I'm back in one piece, look me up, I'll buy you a drink."

With a smirk, the boy nodded his head "You bet".

As he was taken away, the other guard moved to take the children as well.

Their reaction was… Less hospitable.

The girl quickly began crying as the man approached, while the boy, presumably her older brother, shot the guard a nasty glare (or at least as nasty a glare as a four-year-old could manage) before planting his feet.

The Guard recoiled slightly at their reaction, genuinely confused on how he should proceed. Unwilling to forcefully grab a pair of children (especially with his boss watching the interaction), he began to looking to his peers for help, but they seemed as baffled as he felt. Usually civilians were happy to see them after they'd been attacked, they'd never really met anyone resistant to their help, let alone a pair of kids.

Surprisingly enough, relief came in the form of the "Flying Fox"

The blond Fox Faunus, uncaring of the eyes that followed him as he walked, slowly making his way towards the children.

The two visibly relaxed as he drew closer, the glare on the boy's face melting into a look of relief, as the girls harsh sobbing gradually wore down into mild sniffling.

Kneeling down to their level, he gave them a small smile before speaking in a surprisingly gentle voice "Hello there. What are your names?"

The smaller boy gave him a wide grin "Vern Black, pleased to meet you!" he stated happily, all previous hints of anger gone "And this is Rosalia! Say hi Roe!"

"H-Hello…" he barely heard the little girl squeak, her tone far more subdued than that of her brother.

Naruto nodded kindly "It's very nice to meet you both, officially I mean. Now then, Vern, Rosalia, would either of you mind telling me why you don't want to go with the guard?"

Vern looked at him in outright confusion "Wha-? Because they're bad guys!"

While the other Atlesians in the clearing stared at the boy in disbelief, Naruto (and unknown to him, Ozpin) only raised an eyebrow at his words.

Looking at Rosalia, it was plain to see that she agreed with her brother, if the slight nod she gave at his words was any indication, confusing everyone further.

Deciding the direct route was best (as he always did) Naruto just up and asked the question that had sprung to everyone's mind.

"What makes you say that?"

"They tried to attack you!" the boy declared, as if it explained everything.

"Come again?" Naruto asked, still not full understanding the child's point.

Seeing the look of confusion on the older boy's face, the smaller Dark-Green haired child decided to elaborate, using that wonderful form of deduction that only four year olds can use.

"You saved us, and you helped Grandpa. That makes you a good guy. But those other guys? All they did was point their guns at you! They wanted to hurt a good guy, so they must be bad guys!"

The boy nodded to himself as he finished, admittedly a little proud of himself for having figured out who to trust so easily.

Naruto, on the other hand could only blink at the younger child, not really knowing how else to respond to what he'd just heard.

Taking the older boy's silence as reason to continue, the younger boy chose to do just that.

"I mean sure, Grandpa's tough enough to take care of himself against these guys if he needs to. That's probably why he went with them in the first place, so he could beat them up when they didn't see it coming. But let my little sister go with them? No way!"

Naruto could only blink again as the child stared up at him, obviously proud of his observation skills, and looking for some sort of approval.

Rubbing a hand over his face, he tried to think up the best way to respond to this.

He couldn't outright tell the kid he was wrong; His thought process did make a certain level of sense, especially for a young child unfamiliar with the area, and it might come back to bite him later on, especially if he wanted to convince the kid to follow the guards.

At the same time, he couldn't just let the kid go on thinking like this. Not only would he not follow the guards now, it might cause unneeded headaches for the authorities further down the line if this sort of thing happened again.

It was best to just nip this in the bud now.

' _Dear Oum I am too young to be dealing with mess like this. Time to bull crap my way out!"_

Naruto took a deep breath, before letting it out slowly as he looked down at the still expectant child.

"Well Vern, I guess I can see how you would think that, and you did well protecting your little sister."

At this the boy beamed, a megawatt grin splitting his face as he hugged his sister closer

"But" the young Faunus continued "there's something you need to understand."

He pushed forward at their curious looks.

"The guards don't know me." He stated matter-of-factly "When I dropped down, they had no idea if I was a good guy or not. So, when I approached you, they acted the way they did because they wanted to keep you safe. For all they knew, I might have been worse than the monsters."

"They're not really bad guys, as much as they are good guys without all the facts, do you understand?"

The child looked at him, before looking at the guard that had been sent to take them, who offered a small smile.

Looking back at Naruto, the child nodded, before walking over to the guard, pulling his sister along with him "I guess that makes sense."

The guard let out a breath as he moved toward them.

"BUT!" the child continued, causing the guard to pause" Don't get any ideas. I've got my eye on you!" He declared pointing at the man before the three slowly began to make their way towards the airship.

' _Cheeky kid'_ Naruto thought with amusement, before feeling something pull at his pants leg.

Looking down, he saw the little girl, Rosalia, apparently having separated from her brother and the guard who now stood waiting for her before they could get further into the forest.

"M-Mr. Naruto…?" she asked shyly.

Kneeling down to be on her level, the blonde gave the girl a warm smile "Yeah? What's up kid?"

Blushing, the young purplette hesitantly handed him a small bracelet, before kissing him on the cheek "Thank you."

With that, she ran back towards where her brother and the guard stood waiting, Naruto rising as he watched her, before the three of them completed their trek into the woods.

Placing a hand to his cheek where the small girl had kissed him, Naruto couldn't help the small blush that spread across his face as he slipped the bracelet into his pocket for safe-keeping.

His blush intensified as he noticed the smirks and knowing smiles on the other Atlesian's faces.

"Not one word" he growled out in embarrassment, the effect totally ruined by the red still staining his cheeks.

0

The journey back after that went by in a tense silence.

He had agreed to return to the General's ship for questioning, if only to make sure that the three he had saved were being well taken care of. That didn't mean he had to like it though.

Naruto, though he understood their reasoning, wasn't exactly thrilled at the thought of having two armed guards at his back, his hands constantly twitching as he resisted the urge to pull one of his blades on the other men.

Ozpin, well aware of the tension in the air, took the time to look over the young man who had effectively done James' job for him.

The young man looked to be around 5'9, and 16 years old if he had to fancy a guess. He wore a tattered two-piece Atlesian uniform that, judging by what he could see of its design, was originally produced for the Schnee Dust Company.

However, where Schnee uniforms typically had the company logo sewn into the shoulder of the long sleeves, the young man had instead chosen to rip the sleeves off entirely, most likely for greater maneuverability and access to the weapons on his back, showing a pair of well-developed arms.

The pants were worn at the edges, hanging in uneven oddly creased shreds below his knees, as if he'd gotten tired of rolling them up at some point and just decided to hack them shorter entirely, with a hole cut in the back for his tail, allowing it to flow freely behind him as he walked. He wore no shoes.

As they arrived at the General's airship, he also took note of how the boy's eyes flitted in various directions as he took in his surroundings, looking for unseen threats and locating exits.

He couldn't help a small sigh at the boy's behavior. No one this young, Warrior or no, should feel the need to be this on guard at all times.

The ship itself, unlike the huge battlecruiser which spearheaded his air fleet, was built for speed and practicality rather than battle. It played host to a small two celled brig, a barracks for a contingent of no more than six troops, and a stocked medical bay, all arranged around a long hallway leading to the cockpit from which the vessel was piloted.

As they made their way towards the brig (because honestly, where else would a questioning take place?) Naruto noticed the family of three in the medical bay be looked over by the on-hand doctor, waving at them when they noticed his presence and smiling when they waved back.

As they reached their destination, he schooled his features, preparing to deal with whatever Ironwood had in store.

As the older man motioned for him to sit down, Naruto took in his surroundings. It was a typical interrogation chamber, not unlike what you would find in a police station, with a bright light overhanging a small wooden table. The only big difference was the large computer screen set into the wall behind the General as the man stood in front of him. The guards stood outside the door, on the lookout for any sign of danger.

Ozpin couldn't help a certain feeling of Déjà vu at the scene before him, only with a small rose-themed fifteen-year-old girl in place of the young Fox Faunus.

Ironwood pulled up a few files before placing them on the table, pulling each of the other men from their respective thoughts.

Looking them over, Naruto saw the pictures and profiles for the members of the small family he'd saved earlier.

"Revan Black" Ironwood began as he watched Naruto look the files over "Mistralite, accomplished Hunter, one of the strongest in his field. Widowed husband, and Father to two sons, Marcus and Jason Black: Both Hunters in their own right, one a mercenary, the other an accomplished soldier. Recently retired Grandfather to at least two registered children, Vern and Rosalia Black." He gave a slight smile "I assumed you'd like to know a little about who you saved."

Naruto nodded, it was good to know that the person he saved had been a decent person before he popped up, kind of helped put his mind at ease.

"But they're not the only ones now are they?"

Ironwoods voice drew the reincarnated boy's attention to him, eyes narrowed as he saw the knowing smile on the older man face.

Taking his silence as a go ahead, the older man continued You've become quite the Urban Legend over the last nine years, young man, and up until now, I'll admit I didn't really believe any of the rumors. I mean, a "Flying Fox" living in the forest and saving people, before disappearing without a trace? But now that I've seen what you can do, I'll admit I'm impressed."

"Then my life's work is complete." Naruto couldn't resist stating, more than a little sarcasm coloring his voice, which Ironwood chose to ignore.

"Having said that" the man continued "There still remains a bit of a problem. You are currently wanted for charges issued against you by the Schnee Dust Company, anything to say on that?"

The younger man only raised an eyebrow "Depends on the charges."

"Several charges of theft and one of assault."

"The boy's brows furrowed "Assault?"

The older man nodded, looking through his notes "Issued by one Manchester Clay, around eight years ago."

"Manchester?"

"Yes. If I remember correctly, when he returned to the city he had been stripped down to his underwear. Wouldn't stop raving about a "Fox Creature" until he was sedated." He looked the boy over "I guess we figured out what happened to his clothes."

"Yeah, I guess so" Naruto responded absently. He had thought that guy seemed familiar, but hadn't put much thought behind it. He remembered hearing Manchester's name, just before being rolled down that hill all those years ago, and couldn't help a vindictive smirk.

When he'd snatched the man's clothes, it had only been because his old set had finally reached the point of no return. Taking them from a Schnee employee was just a bonus. Learning that the guy he took them from was one of the men who attacked him though… Freaking Priceless.

"Indeed" Ironwood began, as Naruto tuned back in to listen "In addition, multiple counts of theft have been charged due to several missing shipments of Dust ammunition."

The boy shrugged "Have to keep stocked up somehow, figured they could afford it."

Ironwood nodded, expecting that sort of answer "So your admitting to the charges then?"

"Yep."

"Well then, if that's the case you have two options. You can stand trial for these crimes as a civilian, and deal with the pack of wild dog's that Jacques Schnee calls his companies lawyers on your own or… "He looked the young man dead in his eyes "You could enlist as an Atlas Specialist!"

The younger man, who had been listening to the spiel about his charges with a marked amount of indifference, began to blink in surprise at the General's words.

"Say what?"

"Yes. Young man you have shown an amazing level of combat ability for someone your age, especially for someone with no formal training and it would be a crime not to help nourish that talent."

"If you join the Specialists, you will be given some of the greatest Huntsman training available on all of Remnant, not to mention freedom from the charges lobbied against you. Play your cards right, and you may even be selected to take part in the Vytal Festival, defending the honor of your home Kingdom for all the world to see." He finished, voice coloring with passion and civic pride.

"Now my young friend, what do you say?" he gave the boy a smile, as if he didn't already know the answer. Who in their right mind could pass up such an opportunity? He might as well add the boy's name to the new year's roster right no-

"I'll pass."

Wait, what?

"Excuse me?" the General asked, unable to hide the widening of his eyes at the boy's casual dismissal.

"I said I'll pass." The boy repeated simply "I'm doing fine on my own out here, not too interested in becoming some white clad GI for hire, so thanks but no thanks."

"B-but, what about the lawyers? We have to take you in for that now, how are you going to get around them?" He was grasping at straws now. He needed the boy to accept. The young man before him was strong, with untold amounts of potential. There was no telling how much good he could do for Remnant with training.

If he grew that power while under the service of Atlas, well that was a bonus.

"Simple" Naruto stated calmly "I won't."

At the man's look, Naruto let out a sigh "Look, I'll put it like this, did you ever stop and ask why I was living out here alone in the first place?" he asked rhetorically "I lived in Atlas. I know how it runs. I ain't dealing with that again. I rather take my chances with prison, least anyone in there who wants you dead is decent enough to be straight forward about it".

"But…" Ironwood started to argue

"But nothing" Naruto interrupted "You gave me my options, I made my choice, case closed."

"Well, if you're sure…"

"I am." Naruto stated with finality, nodding his head.

"What if I were to tell you that there was a third option?" Ozpin asked calmly, entering into the conversation for the first time, drawing both of the younger men's attention to him.

Naruto gave the white-haired man a curious look, having largely disregarded his presence until now in favor of focusing on what he'd seen as the bigger threats.

"I'm listening"

"I am currently the Headmaster of a Huntsman training academy in Vale going under the name of Beacon. Normally, students have to complete a number of years in a lower training academy before they are even allowed to apply, but there have been exceptions in the past. If you're interested, I may be able to add you to this year's student roster."

Ironwood sprang to his feet, angered by the proposition "Now wait just a dang minute there Oz. He's an Atlesian citizen -! "

"Who has made it abundantly clear that he has no desire to reside in said Kingdom. Being as that's the case, the least I can do is provide another option while I am able. If there is one thing we can agree on, it's that he has amazing potential. You said it yourself, it would be a crime not to help nourish it."

"Well, that's true, I suppose." The General admitted grudgingly.

Ozpin nodded "Indeed. Besides, this really isn't up to us anyway. What are your thoughts young man?"

As he asked this, he turned his attention to Naruto who, up until now, had been going over his options in his head while the two men had branched off into their own discussion.

The way he understood it, he now had three options: A.) Jail. Not much he could add to that one. B.) He could enlist as an Atlesian Specialist and have to deal with the throngs of civilians, soldiers and politicians smiling in his face while looking at him like he was some sort of scum. Story of his lives. Or option C.) … The Unknown.

Well heck, when you put it like that.

Looking Ozpin dead in the eye, Naruto spoke the words that would define his future.

"I'm in." He said with confidence "When do we leave?"

 **Author's Note:**

 **Annnnnnd, CUT! Print! We are done!**

 **Hello everyone. In case your new around here, my name is Reflective599, and I would like to welcome you all once again to my very first fanfic!**

 **Alright, first the technical stuff.**

 **I know it's been awhile since the last chapter, and I'm sorry for that. But I do have a legitimate reason: Only a few weeks ago, both myself and my beta Snowtime, officially started college, WHOO!**

 **(Awkward silence)**

… **(cough) So yeah, we've both been kind of busy getting used to that, so, that's part of the this came out so much later than the rest.**

 **The other? Well, the sites glitching like heck for me right now, so I had to find another way to upload.**

 **On the plus side, I've got a new computer now so hopefully the next chapter will come out faster, no promises though.**

 **Now then, onto the story itself.**

 **Lots of stuff just happened, and I'll be honest, I kind had something like this planned from the start. I always liked the idea of a wildling Naruto, and I figured now was as good a place as any to test it out. It may seem farfetched to some, but, I probably use it a few more times in the future (Hint, Hint).**

 **Moving on, yes, that was a fight scene. No idea how that went, never really written one before. Do me a favor and review telling me how I did (constructively) and any improvements you could think of. Like I said, I'm new to this, and I want you guys to have the best experience possible with this story so, please, give feedback.**

 **Just don't bite my head off when you do.**

 **So yeah, next time Naruto finally makes his way to Beacon, as I'm sure many of you have been anticipating; hopefully it goes well. Most of the main cast'll be introduced soon and, hopefully, I'll be able to do them justice.**

 **Two final things : Anyone interested in doing a Reading Story, please, PM me, because I love reading those and I'd love to be involved in one (I just don't know the "correct" term for one, so, just be sure to tell me exactly what you need to get it going).**

 **The other issue: It seems you guys don't want a harem, and that's fine, but I'd like to keep the option open, so what I'll do is write a bunch of scenes showing Naruto interact with various girls. If I leave it a single pairing, these'll serve as character development and if it becomes a harem, we'll have a solid base, okay?**

 **The only one I won't pair him with is Pyrrha because, while I know they would get along amazingly (and how extremely similar she is to his mother)… my favorite ship is Arkos, and I kinda wanna take a crack at writing it at least once.**

 **So, with all that summed up, as always I am Reflective599m and thank you for reading**

 **FOLLOW!FAVORITE!REVIEW**


	4. The Beacon's Shine

Disclaimer: "Rwby" belongs to Rooster Teeth, "Naruto" belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, Shueisha and Viz Media… I am none of these.

Ch.4

The Shining Beacon

After two hours, Naruto had come to deeply understand one thing about himself:

He absolutely _hated_ flying.

It had been two weeks' sense Ozpin had first recruited him as a student of Beacon, and Naruto had spent that time getting reacquainted with society.

He had traded his stolen and tattered Schnee company jumpsuit in for an outfit that fit his style a little better, using a stipend that Ozpin had given him to buy school supplies and other necessities once they reached Vale.

At the moment, he wore a pair of orange cargo pants with a black stripe down the sides and an unzipped black hooded leather jacket with an orange winged Fox head on the back, paying homage to his impromptu moniker. The latter was stitched together using orange trim, with a pair of black sandals and a mesh undershirt, not unlike what he'd worn in Konoha, tying everything together. The bracelet the little girl, Rosalia, had given him now hung around his neck on a string as an impromptu necklace, a memento of his last rescue (in Atlas…For now…)

Since he didn't really need to pay for lodging, still preferring to sleep under the stars rather than in what he felt were overly padded beds, he had only spent half of what remained on clothing, and supplies, pocketing the rest in preparation for the upcoming year.

Presently, he was on a Vale Sanctioned Bullhead hired to transport his class to Beacon, all the while cursing the school's choice in transport, as he furiously tried to stop himself from groaning.

Now make no mistake, his discomfort didn't stem from anything as simple as, say, airsickness, like what was currently afflicting the slumped over and groaning form of the armored blond boy sitting next to him.

No, his problem was much more deeply rooted.

His past life's experiences with Nature Energy, alongside his current bodies animal instincts and ties to the outdoors, made him more than a little attuned with the natural world. It was how he had survived on his own so well, in conditions that would have normally killed another person. His body was simply built to account for the wilderness.

So, as you can imagine, transitioning directly from an area where he was surrounded by Nature Energy to one where it was all but nonexistent was very… Jarring, for the young fox boy. Even now, after all this time, the lack of Life Force in the air made his skin crawl, instincts going haywire at the lack of energy he was receiving, putting him on edge. Mix that feeling with being hundreds of feet in the air, surrounded by presumably well-armed strangers (most if not all of whom were human) and having no way of getting back to the ground on his own that didn't involve becoming a bloodstained mess, and you can understand why he was a little grouchy.

Pushing his thoughts to the side, Naruto started to go through the supplies in his book bag, hoping the distraction would help calm his nerves before the ship landed.

"Let's see" he muttered to himself "extra PJs, sleeping bag, toothbrush, med kit, airsickness pi-" he paused as held the vile of medicine in his hand, casting a glance at the long-suffering blonde boy beside him. He didn't really need the medicine; his strong constitution having carried over from the original Naruto. He could afford to give them up, besides…

' _Ought to at least try and make friends while I'm here.'_

"Hey buddy" he started, patting the slightly older boy on the back.

Though he didn't look up, the questioning groan from where the boy had his head tucked between his knees confirmed that he was listening.

Naruto put the vial under his nose where could see it "Use some of these."

There was a slight pause before the vial was quickly snatched from his hand as the older boy raised his head, tilting it back as he popped three pills straight into his mouth, before lowering it with a sigh of relief.

Handing it back, the boy gave him a grateful smile "Thanks buddy, you're a life saver."

Naruto waved him off, before extending his hand "Don't mention it. Naruto Uzumaki, pleased to meet you."

The older boy shook the hand offered "Jaune Arc, likewise."

Naruto smiled "So, Beacon huh? You ready for this?"

The older boy gave a distinctly nervous chuckle "About as ready as I'll ever be. What about you?"

The Faunus boys smile turned distinctly feral "More than ready, it's been too long since I've had a good fight." As he said this, his tail rose unconsciously to accentuate his point, which Jaune took note of.

"Holy crap, you're a Faunus?!" he asked in surprise.

Naruto stiffened "Yeah" he ground out slowly, before his eyes narrowed as he looked at the other boy "Problem?"

Noticing the young Faunus's tone, Jaune quickly raised his hands in surrender "Nope! No problem at all! Just, kind of surprised me is all!"

Naruto gave a slight sigh before he relaxed "Sorry, so many bigots in the world you never know."

"Eh no problem. I grew up around a lot of Faunus kids back home, so I kinda don't really notice, but I know how some people can be."

"Thanks."

Their conversation was cut short by the sound of the bullhead landing. As everyone on board made to exit, Naruto quickly wrapped his tail around his waist, taking in surroundings as he followed Jaune out into the courtyard.

"So" the older blonde started "Any idea where we're supposed to go?"

"Auditorium I guess, as for where that is… No clue."

"Yeah, that sounds about right."

As his fellow blonde started to try and get a lay of the land, Naruto was busy taking in his fellow classmates, watching for anyone of interest.

' _Let's see here. A bombshell'_ A blonde haired girl who just disappeared in a crowd _'a rookie'_ a smaller girl with short red-tipped dark hair and a red hood trailing behind her, looking dazed and nervous, before tripping into…

His eyes narrowed as he caught sight of a familiar mop of white hair pulled into a side ponytail popup amongst the mountain of suitcases the small red girl had fallen into _'And a Schnee. Joy.'_ He thought sarcastically, watching as she scolded the smaller girl for her misstep before taking a breath.

' _But let's not hold that against her.'_

In all honesty, he couldn't drum up that much hatred for the older girl. Years in self-inflicted exile tended to mellow a person (or drive them nuts, but, you know, semantics), and mixed with his time around Amber, he had long since releasedmost of his hatred for the Schnee company.

 _Most._

He still held plenty of anger over the situation itself, but he wouldn't just snap and go on a murder spree against them either. That was part of the reason he had only stolen that Manchester guy's clothes instead of outright attacking or leaving them for dead once he'd seen who they worked for. He was trying to let it go. It would just take time.

Lots of time, but hey, what can you do?

So, if it came down to it, no, he wouldn't hold her family name against her.

Her _personality_ on the other hand…

"Hey Jaune" he started, pulling his fellow blonde out of his thoughts "I think I just found someone to help us." At this he pointed at the small red girl, who, while he had been going over his thoughts had somehow ended up laying in a shallow soot-covered crater looking miserable.

The blonde knight looked where he pointed before nodding resolutely as he spotted the younger girl "You know; I think your right."

0

The day had quickly gone from bad to worse for one Ruby Rose.

The trip to Beacon had started off bad enough. Immediately after entering the Bullhead that morning with Yang, she'd immediately been set upon by the other students.

As soon as she'd step foot onboard the ship, she could feel all of the other student's eyes zeroing in on her. Some with curiosity, others with contempt, but all centered around the fifteen-year-old who dared to skip ahead. Watching her closely as if she were some rare specimen in a jar, as if waiting on the moment she would mess up and prove she didn't deserve her position.

She had never been more thankful for her older sister's explosive personality in her life.

As long as Yang was around, everything would be okay.

So of course, everything had gone straight to Hell as soon as the older girl left her high and dry.

The Golden Flame Bomb's speedy retreat had quickly left her dazed and confused, as she rapidly found herself falling into a huge pile of suitcases that had inexplicably made its way behind her.

And of course, that had called down the Wrath of the White-Haired Harpy.

Who of course had shaken the Dust, which caused her to sneeze, which led to the explosion and where she was now.

Alone, lying in a crater, wishing she could be somewhere, _anywhere_ else.

"Welcome to Beacon" she mumbled dejectedly, close to tears.

So, with the way things had been going so far, you can imagine her surprise when, while she was laying there drowning in self-pity, she was approached by two admittedly attractive older boys, one of whom offered her a hand up.

The older of the two, the one who helped her up, was admittedly very… basic would be the best word. He wore a simple breastplate and spaulder combination over a black hoodie, with brown leather gloves, a simple pair of jeans and high-top sneakers, the sheath for a medium sized broadsword attached at his right hip.

"Hi" he started off, a tad awkwardly as he helped her to her feet "I'm Jaune. And that's Naruto."

At this he gestured to the other boy who looked decidedly… wild, compared to his companion. The whisker marks on each of his cheeks, the foxtail wrapped around his waist and the way he held himself made his presence seem practically feral. Though he appeared relaxed, one hand in his jacket pocket as he used the other to give her a two-finger salute in greeting, the roguish look in eye showed that he was scoping her out, trying to figure out exactly what made her tick with just a glance. Everything about this other boy seemed to scream one word: Dangerous.

She liked him already.

He reminded her of her Uncle Qrow.

"Pleasure to meet you their Miss …" The wild boy, Naruto, trailed off, searching for her name.

"Oh!" She started, realizing she hadn't introduced herself yet, too caught up in her thoughts "I'm Ruby, Ruby Rose." She said, a slight blush coloring her cheeks in embarrassment.

Both boys only smiled at her, unknowingly sharing the same thought:

' _Well, that's just downright adorable"._

Of course, then the girl had to go and ruin the moment.

Looking at Jaune, her eyes narrowed before widening in recognition, half cracking up as she saw who she was talking to "Hey, aren't you the guy who almost threw up on the ship?"

She could only smile sheepishly as Naruto burst into laughter, while Jaune slumped in defeat.

0

"All I'm saying is, motion sickness is way more common than people let on. It could have happened to anyone!"

The now group of three had quickly moved on from the court yard after their initial meeting, taking the time before orientation to get to know one another better.

Or at least they would have, if Ruby hadn't started off with mentioning Jaune's near reintroduction to his lunch on the ride over.

The girl laughed, "Look, I'm sorry! Vomit Boy was just the first thing that came to mind!"

"Oh yeah? Well what if I called you Crater Face?

"Hey! That explosion was an accident!"

Naruto snorted at that.

The red themed girl immediately rounded on him "Watch it Fuzzy!"

Naruto's left eye began to twitch at the name, while Jaune couldn't help but bust out laughing "Dang dude, she's got you pegged!"

Naruto turned to him, eyes narrowed "Is that so, Vomit Boy?"

Now it was Jaune's turn to pick up an eye twitch, while Naruto smirked and Ruby laughed at his expense.

"You know what? Screw the both of you." He said, trying to keep a straight face, but failing badly, breaking down into laughter a minute later, quickly joined by the others.

"Anyway" Jaune started off, eager to change the subject "the name's Jaune Arc! Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue –ladies love it!" He said with confidence…

…Only to be met with twin looks of skepticism.

"What?" he asked noticing the looks.

The other two glanced at him, before looking at each other, and then back to him.

"Do they?" started Ruby

"Do they really?" finished Naruto, eyebrow raised in the universal sign of: "Come on man."

"They will!" he insisted, before faltering "I mean, well, I-I hope they will. My mom always says that … You know what, never mind."

The other laughed for a second before descending into a silence that was equal parts awkward and comfortable.

"So…" Ruby started after a moment "I got this!" She quickly unsheathed and expanded her weapon, Crescent Rose, stabbing it into the ground as she did so.

Naruto whistled

Jaune gaped, half-way between impressed and scared "Woah! Is that a scythe?!"

The younger girl smirked "It's also a customizable high-impact sniper rifle!"

"Uhhh…?" he replied smartly

"It's also a gun" she simplified, cocking it and smiling sweetly.

"Correction, it's a big, bombastic gun" Naruto amended, looking it over "And she's a beauty. Can I…?"

He pointed at Crescent Rose, leaning forward and running a hand over it when Ruby nodded her approval.

' _Tiny girls with big badass scythes and a school that teaches people how to kill monsters…?_

He's rose back to his full height, before nodding to himself.

' _Best. Decision. EVER!'_

"Oh. OH! That's cool!" said Jaune as the other teen's words settled in "Strike that, that's awesome!"

"Thanks!" She said, pleased with herself "So, what've you guys got?"

"Oh! I, uh…." He struggled for a minute, before pulling out his own weapon "I got this sword! Crocea Mors!"

"Ooooohh" she breathed, Naruto just looked curious.

"Yeah, and this shield too!" At this, the young knight quickly pulling out his scabbard and expanding it into a shield with his family crest.

Placing a hand on the shield, she glanced at him curiously "What do they do?"

"Oh uhh" at that moment the shield chose to go haywire on his arm, expanding and retracting rapidly as he struggled to get them under control, before forcing it to shrink down and reattaching it to his hip "Well, the shield shrinks, so when I get tired of carrying it I can just… you know… put it away…

She looked at him confused "But… doesn't it weigh the same either way?"

He slumped "Yeah, yeah it does…"

Naruto patted the older boy on the back while Ruby giggled awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head with her free hand "Well, I'm kind of a dork with weapons, sooo… I guess I _did_ go a little overboard when I was designing it."

She looked at him in confusion when instead of bucking up he just gawked at her in shock. Looking at Naruto, she saw much the same look on his face.

"…What? Is there something on my face?"

This seemed to break the dam as Jaune looked at her in alarm "Wait, wait, wait, hold the phone – You made that?!"

"Of course!" she replied, shocked he was even asking "All students at Signal forge their own weapons! I mean, didn't you two make yours?"

She slumped when both of them shook their heads

"It's a hand- me-down" Jaune said after a minute "My great-great-grandfather used it to fight in the war."

"Same" said Naruto, unsheathing both of his gun blades "About the hand-me down-part. My older sister passed them down to me the last time I saw her."

"Sound more like family heirlooms" Ruby said, laughing awkwardly at their reactions "Well I like them! Especially yours Jaune! Not enough people have an appreciation for the classics these days."

The young knight sheathed his blade, still looking decidedly bummed "Yeah, the classics…

Naruto put a hand on his shoulder "Don't let it get you down buddy, trust me when I say this: Ain't nothing got your back in the middle of a fight like a solid piece of steel; sometimes the simple approach is the best one."

The older boy cracked a half smile at his words "Thanks."

"No problem."

The trio walked on in a comfortable silence for a moment, happily allowing the previous moment's seriousness to dissipate in time.

"So, I want ask you guys something" Ruby said after a moment, drawing the other two's attention with the thoughtful look on her face "Why'd you guys help me out back there? In the courtyard, I mean?"

"Why not?" Naruto asked, looking at her in honest confusion "Besides, you looked like you could use a pick-me up after dealing with the "Snow Princess"."

"Yeah" Jaune picked up, shrugging "I mean, it's like my Mom always says, 'Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet.'

"Hmm" she said thoughtfully, honestly unsure of how to respond to their words, before taking a look around "Hey, uh, where are we going?

Jaune snorted "Heck, I don't know. I was following you guys. Think there might be a directory or something? Maybe a food court? You know, some kind of recognizable landmark?" He stopped as he saw the other trying (and in Ruby's case failing) to hold back their laughter

"I'm, uh… I'm guessing that's a 'no' then?

Neither of his two friends could take it anymore as they descended into a fit of laughter, halted only momentarily by Ruby, who, surprisingly, managed to get ahold of herself long enough to answer him

"Yes Jaune, that'd be a 'no'."

0

After they had all calmed down, Naruto revealed that he had known the way the whole time.

"I smelled a _ton_ of people headed that way" he said shrugging, tapping his nose before pointing in a seemingly random direction "I figured y'all just wanted to chat for a second."

After that explanation, (and the subsequent face-palms that followed it) the trio had rapidly made their way to the auditorium, gawking as they took in its size, as what seemed like hundreds of students milled about trying to get settled.

They were quickly pulled from their stupor by the loud sound of a girl's voice.

"Ruby! Over Here! I saved you a spot!"

Looking over, they saw the blonde girl from earlier, waving her arms up and down like a madwoman, heedless of anyone else around her as she zeroed in on the form of her little sister in the doorway."

"Oh!" said Ruby as she spotted the older girl "That's my sister! Look, I-I gotta go! I'll see you after the ceremony! It was nice meeting you!"

Jaune started "Wait!" he called out too late before sighing as he watched his second friend at Beacon disappear into the crowd "Dang it! That's just perfect. Now where am I supposed to meet another nice, quirky girl to talk to?!"

Naruto patted his shoulder, obviously amused as he watched their young female tear into the older blonde girl "Eh, don't sweat it. Let the girl tear into her sister, Oum knows she needs to vent. Now come on, we still gotta find some seats in this place. Besides, big as this place, there's bound to be another cute redhead to keep you company around here somewhere. "

As they walked off, neither one of them noticed a tall Spartan-themed girl with her long red hair tied into a ponytail, watching them with curiosity before turning her attention elsewhere.

0

"Really? Freaking really?" Naruto asked in exasperation.

"Hey, cut me some slack, it was a spur of the moment thing!" Jaune said, trying to defend himself.

It was about an hour and a half after Ozpin's "Speech", if you could call that half a minute long demotivational spiel that, and the two new friends were getting changed for bed, while Jaune regaled Naruto with his latest foray into the realm of the romantic.

And its failings.

Evidently, while Naruto had dived headfirst into the crowd of people to find a seat (no matter how briefly he had needed it) Jaune had taken the more passive route, trying to scope out a free space from where he stood amongst the constant throng of people.

As he did, he had managed to catch the tail end of a conversation (ironically involving Ruby) where he'd heard a girl call him "cute."

So of course, he'd taken that as a cue to introduce himself, with his first words being…

"I'm a natural blonde" though? Seriously? How do you even…?" Naruto griped, leaning against the wall as he waited for the older boy to get done changing.

Technically speaking, Naruto was already ready to crash, having already stored his blades away in a locker after making sure that the others in the room were also unarmed. Old habits die hard, and the need to watch his back was still firmly ingrained in the young man as he'd watched the other teens filter into the room, wary of threats. He had set his sleeping bag up in a corner near one of the oversized windows, head facing the center of the room, and he always had his claws to rely on. Worse came to worse, he could fight his way out.

At the moment, he wore a loose pair of black pajama bottoms with orange trim, his mesh undershirt, and the bracelet turned necklace around his neck.

The problem had arisen when he'd seen what Jaune had planned to wear. The older boy had fallen out of the changing room in a pair of bunny-themed footy-pajamas, not an ounce of shame on his face as he prepared to make his way across the room, on full display for all of his new classmates.

Naruto wasn't having any of that mess.

Getting up from where he had been seated, the young fox Faunus had all but dragged the older knight back into the changing area by his collar before tossing him the extra pair of pajamas he had brought along heedless of the protests his new friend had made.

There was being comfortable in your own skin, and then there was just sheer stupidity.

One guess which category wearing those fell into.

And that's coming from a guy who had once worn a neon orange jumpsuit everywhere.

Think about that.

"Hey, it wasn't that bad!" the young knight exclaimed from behind the door as finally made his way out, now wearing a pair of black pajama bottoms and a white undershirt.

"Dude, _she_ face-palmed" Naruto deadpanned.

Jaune could only blush, unable to argue that point.

Releasing his breath slowly to gather his thoughts, the younger boy looked his new friend in the eye to get his point across "Look buddy, word of advice: If it takes less than 30 seconds to think up, its gonna fail. Trust me, in a fight, with girls, anything. No exceptions. You keep dropping bombs like that one, and there ain't gonna be enough Aura in the world to heal what that girl does to you. Believe me!"

He didn't even know who this girl was, having cut his friend off when he'd been about to describe her. Seriously though, no matter what she looked or acted like, that line was bound to crash and burn.

Hard.

"Yeah, yeah" the older blonde waved off, storing the info for later, before looking at his companion in confusion "Aura?"

"Yep, it's got no chance" Naruto chuckled before seeing the lost look on the older blonde's face "No way… Jaune, you _do_ know what Aura is, right?"

"O-of course…!" the farm boy said quickly, trying to save face, before spotting the skeptical look his companion shot him "… I don't…"

"Oh, dear Oum man, what the hell?!" Naruto gasped out in shock, genuinely horrified "Why didn't you tell anyone?! You were about to be a sitting duck tomorrow!"

Jaune cringed as he was scolded by his new friend. Had he really almost screwed up that badly?

"Alright, hold up, we can fix this." Naruto said after he had let the information sink in "Fist bump me."

Jaune blinked at the odd request, watching as the young fox boy raised his fist and gestured for him to do the same.

Shrugging, the older blonde did as he was told, eyes widening as he _felt_ more than saw his friend draw upon something, urging it forward through the point where their fists connected

Before he could ask what is was going on, he felt that same _something_ again, only this time he felt it building up within his own chest.

His first instinct was to panic, as the energy continued to build, he found it harder and harder to hold it back, to keep it under control. But as he struggled against it, a new feeling emerged, some baser instinct he wasn't aware of having, urging him to simply let go. To embrace the energy, rather than to try and restrain it.

Feeling that the loss of control was imminent, Jaune did what practically anyone in his situation would do. Rather than allow himself to be overwhelmed, he chose to simply let go, placing his trust in his instincts as he embraced this new energy, feeling it wash over him in a torrent of unbridled power and energy.

The whole process, long though it may have seemed, lasted less than five seconds.

Opening his eyes, having closed them without realizing it, the young knight was met with the familiar sight of his own hands, only now they had been transformed, set upon by an ethereal white glow that encompassed the whole of his young body, before it slowly dissipated.

Slightly overwhelmed, the older blonde could only utter a mystified "Woah…"

"I know, right?" Naruto said, obviously pleased with the results "Oh, and just for the record, _that's_ Aura. Congrats, you've got plenty."

Jaune could only gawk at him. _This_ was what he was talking about? What _everyone_ in this school was supposed to have? If this was just part of the basics… _Dear Monty!_ What in the _actual hell_ had he gotten himself into?!

"Alright then" Naruto continued, heedless of the older boy's steadily mounting inner turmoil "the next step for you is to get some sleep. Your Aura needs time to settle, or you won't be able to call on it like you should."

"What do you mean?"

"Uhh" he trailed off as he tried to gather his thoughts "Look, I'm not an expert on this, so you might wanna ask, I don't know, that Goodwitch lady, maybe, for help later, but if I've got this straight, unlocking Aura is basically like weaponizing your soul, so when it first happens, the body needs to rest so the soul can… go through growing pains I guess. If you don't, you won't lose it per say, but it'll be way more temperamental than if you had just taken it easy in the first place, trust me."

Amber had explained this concept to Naruto fairly early into their time together. Well before she had even unlocked his, she had drilled into his head the need for "Harmony" between his body and soul. He hadn't understood it at the time, but two "Awakenings', as he called them, later, his own included, he couldn't be more grateful.

"Oh shoot, I better I go and crash then." Jaune said, pulling the young Faunus from his thoughts "Thanks for that, seriously."

Naruto waved him off "Don't sweat it buddy, you'd a done the same. Now go on, the faster you crash, the faster you get to test out what you can do."

"Right, thanks again!"

With that, he quickly exited the room, for once eager to get a good night's rest, never noticing the appreciative looks the tall red head from earlier shot him from across the room as he passed in his new threads.

0

Naruto followed a few moments later, glad he had been able to help his new friend out, Oum knew the boy needed it.

Don't get it twisted, he respected the guy. Anyone who was willing to go and help a young depressed girl with nothing in mind except making her feel better, and giving her a friend had done more than enough to earn his respect. It was just…

The guy was just too damn much like his past self!

Seriously, the bravado, the Naiveté, the lack of knowledge he held over the basic things he needed to survive. Heck even the hair! It was like looking through a vaguely disturbing mirror.

Downright scary.

He positively needed to help this guy, if only to stop him from repeating the mistakes the original Naruto had made. Oum knows he could have used the help back then. Heck, he could have used it on the less apocalyptic-y problems, least it would have saved him a couple of headaches.

Besides, Jaune was his friend now; one of his precious people, along with Ruby.

It was only right to help him.

Speaking of helping friends…

He was drawn from his thoughts as he noticed the Schnee from earlier, Weiss if his memories of Atlas weren't mistaken, picking up steam for a rant… Headed straight for Ruby.

' _Oh no. That won't do. Not at all.'_

Moving forward to intercept, he couldn't help the foxlike smirk that spread across his face as an idea for a prank formed in his mind

Oh, yeah, this was gonna be good.

Moving just behind his intended target as she snuck up on the younger girl, Naruto noted the other members of the impromptu group of four.

There was Ruby, of course, blissfully unaware of the storm coming as she wrestled with the blonde he had discovered earlier was her older sister, Yang. The whole incident was amusedly watched over by a calm looking black haired girl with a large black bow, dressed in… a thigh length yukata.

Heh.

Sexy sleepwear aside, he arrived just in time to hear the "Snow Princess" grace the two with her divine sense of wisdom.

"What in the world is going on over here?! Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?"

Just before either could yell back (Yang) or apologize (Ruby), they spotted Naruto behind the crabby girl, who winked conspiratorially before placing a finger on his lips, telling them to be silent and watch.

"That Angelic Voice, it couldn't be…. Oh, my Monty it is!" He exclaimed overdramatically, gaining not only the white themed girls attention, but the majority of the room's as well as he seemingly went full on fanboy. "My Oum…Weiss? Of the Schnee family? In the flesh? Oh, I'm not worthy!"

Taking note of the stranger that had suddenly made his presence known, Weiss couldn't help the smug grin that spread across her face.

' _Finally, some_ proper _recognition'_ she thought, remembering that black clad girl's earlier words on her and her family's company, after that tiny red headed _dolt_ had caused that explosion in the courtyard.

"I'll be the judge of that" Weiss declared magnanimously, as she watched the boy smile at even that simple mercy.

Oum, it felt good to be the Queen

"To whom am I speaking?'

"Oh, my sincerest apologies! Whatever was I thinking? I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Naruto Uzumaki" He dipped into an overly extravagant bow, the reverent tone he had been using dropping as he did, instantly transforming into the confident swagger he was known for as he unfurled his tail to its full length for all to see "Better known, as "The Flying Fox of Atlas. Pleased to meet you." He finished with a smirk, straightening to meet her eyes.

His smirk widened as he saw the look she had given him; her smug grin having melted away into open mouthed shock.

He _so_ wished he had a camera on him, it was freaking priceless.

"T-The Flying Fox… Here?!" She stuttered out in shock

"In the flesh" he said smiling as he watched her shock melt into anger.

' _Oh, here comes the fun part._ '

"Y-You FIEND! How dare you mock me after, after all that you've done?!"

"In order: quite easily, and with _great_ relish. The question here though, is not how I'll do something, no, the question is" he leaned forward, so close that he could have kissed her if he'd been so inclined, but stopped just before reaching that point "What're you gonna do about it?"

The girl reeled back, blushing despite herself at how close he had been, preparing to retort before she stopped.

The question wasn't what _would_ she do, but rather what _could_ she do?

She was unarmed, just like everyone else in the room, her personal rapier, Myrtenaster, locked away like all the other weapons. She wasn't a physical fighter by any sense of the word, preferring to rely on her speed and Glyphs alongside her Dust arsenal to get ahead in a fight rather than her strength. She held no delusions that she could take him on unarmed if things came to violence, and if her past experience with Faunus criminals was anything to go by, he wouldn't hesitate to take it there if she provoked him.

The best course of action was to walk away now, wait until she was armed and take him out later.

Satisfied with the plan, the Schnee Heiress met the still grinning face of her whiskered adversary with an indignant glare.

"I…! You…! Aagh!" Apparently so angry she couldn't even articulate a thought, she stormed away in a huff, leaving three relieved girls and one bewildered Fox Faunus, as the others that had been watch all shrugged before going about their own business as the show ended.

Naruto watched the white-themed girl walk away with a bit of surprise.

' _Heh, that was easier than I thought.'_

He had come over with the goal of keeping the Schnee girl's attention off of Ruby, having seen the young redhead finally escape the slump she had been in earlier. Messing with the Schnee had been nothing more than a bonus.

A hilarious, vastly enjoyable bonus, but a bonus just the same.

Having seen how she'd harped on Ruby earlier for such a simple mistake, he'd been fully prepared for her to go full diva on him after she'd learned his identity.

So, for her to walk away with no fight at all was… surprising.

She hadn't even tried to slap him. He wouldn't have let her, but he had at least expected her to try. Apparently, she had more self-control than that.

Go figure.

Remembering he wasn't alone, the boy plastered his by now trademarked Fox-like grin onto his face before turning to the remaining three girls.

"Well, that was fun."

They only stared back at him in confusion.

Oddly enough, it was the black-haired girl that broke the silence. "Are you… really the Flying Fox?"

He immediately flicked his eyes to her, and she just barely managed to restrain a blush as he did. They were just so… _intense_ would be the best word, and mixed with that foxlike grin, which was now directed solely at her… yeah, her cheeks actually did color slightly at that.

Smile never wavering, Naruto shrugged at the older girl "Far as I can tell. Least that's what Ironwood told me people called me. Figured it would be enough to tick Snow over there off, so… mission accomplished."

"Uh excuse me?" Yang said, as both turned to look at her "Yeah, I hate interrupt but, um, the HECK are you people talking about?!"

Seeing the Ruby nod at her sister's words, Naruto scratched the back of his head in thought "Um, that's kind of a long story, so, uh…"

The black-haired girl came to his rescue…kind of "Naruto Uzumaki AKA "The Flying Fox of Atlas" is a 16-year old Faunus from Atlas who spent nine consecutive years of his life in the Forest's surrounding the city, training himself and rescuing anyone, human or Faunus, who found themselves stranded there. His reasons for doing so are unknown, outside of the fact that he, in his own words "Just wanted to help. "Currently, He's slated to attend the school of Beacon in Vale to officially become a Huntsman." She summarized, getting shocked looks from the two girls, whether from the information itself or just the amount she had unloaded was anyone's guess.

Naruto himself, however, only looked pensive as he scratched his chin "Heh, guess they did publish that article after all."

A few hours after he'd made his arrangement with Ozpin, he had been interviewed by a reporter sanctioned by the Atlesian Military to record the past few years of his life, and release the story to the public.

The official reason was to publicly out him as a ward of Beacon, before the Schnee companies headhunting lawyers (or heck, their regular brand of headhunter) could take a crack at him.

Unofficially, it was to caution the people about the loss of his presence in the forest; with any luck, the people take it to heart and take measures to protect themselves better with the official lack of their savior.

He had been more than willing to help, not wanting anyone to die having expected him to save them, and with no (biological) family to speak of, there was no one to threaten on his behalf, so he had nothing to lose.

He had expected it to pass through Atlas, so he'd been sure that the Schnee would recognize the name.

Evidently it had traveled outside the cities walls as well.

Neat.

"Indeed" the black-haired girl said with a small smile, pulling him from his thoughts "I'd been hoping to meet you when I heard you be going to Beacon. "she held out a hand "Blake Belladonna."

Naruto grasped the offered hand before shaking it "Pleasure to meet you Miss Belladonna…."

"Hold on! Exclaimed Ruby, her strawberry and chocolate chip fueled brain having sped through the information faster than her sister could burn through it, as the other three turned their attention to her "I get it now!"

Eyes sparkling as they practically transformed into stars, the younger girl nearly squeed as she looked at her whiskered friend "You're a superhero!"

While the other two could only sigh at her childish answer, Naruto blinked.

"Huh, never heard that one before…"

Undeterred, the younger girl practically teleported in front of him, getting right in his face, modesty going out the window in lieu of her child-like enthusiasm.

"Can I be your sidekick?! Please, please, pleeeeeeaaasee?!" With every 'please,' she got closer and closer until they were practically nose to nose.

Unprepared for her sudden bout of enthusiasm, Naruto couldn't help the small blush that spread across his face as he looked at the younger girl.

"Uhhh… m-maybe?"

He was saved from having to respond further by the now named Blake, who coughed into her hand to gain the other's attention "I think that's a good note to go out on" as she spoke, she held up the candle she had been using for reading light, looking decidedly amused "Good night."

She gave them all a minute let that sink in, winking at Naruto when he shot her a grateful look for her interference, before they all went their separate ways, Yang practically dragging a protesting Ruby away from the scene, before turning to give Naruto a playful grin.

The boy himself made his way to his sleeping bag just a few moments before Blake blew out the candle, slipping under his sheets as he thought about the day.

Let's see, he'd made friends with two rookies, unlocked the aura for one, confronted a Schnee, played a prank, found out that he may be a little more famous than he'd first thought, and was about to delve into a forest filled with bloodthirsty beast's and monsters just for the right to sit behind a desk and listen to lectures for a license to do what he'd been doing for free the past nine years of his life.

He shrugged to himself.

' _Not bad for a Monday.'_

And it was with that final thought that the young Fox Faunus finally allowed himself to relax for the night, mentally preparing for what the next day would bring, and the adventures that would come along with it.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Cut, Print, That's a wrap!**

 **Hello, my lovely readers, it is good to be back.**

 **For those who don't know, my name is Reflective599, ad this is my very first fanfic!**

 **Right, the all-important technicals: This chapter has been done for at least two weeks and I'm sorry you didn't get it until now, but, on the plus side, it's here now and Chapter 5 will be up some time in the very near future (Had to do something will the site was glitching) so don't worry too much about it.**

 **Next, the story itself.**

 **Okay, I'm gonna go right ahead and say this: I like Jaune.**

 **I know some people don't, and I respect that, but, out of the main Male characters he is my favorite, with Nora as my favorite Female.**

 **And before you ask, my least favorites (respectively) are Neptune and Blake.**

 **More on that later.**

 **Now if that bothers you, I thank for either reading to this point or suffering through those portions.**

 **I've always had a soft spot for underdogs and lovable losers, so that might (read: will probably) creep up when I'm writing him. Don't worry, I'll try not to make him too much of a Mary Sue or whatever, but he'll be different then in canon, a little cooler.**

 **Just a little.**

 **Just…Try not to bite my head off when those moments come up.**

 **Now, with that being said, tell me how I'm doing on the other characters as well just so it doesn't become too much of a chore to read through their segments.**

 **Again, I want to make this as fun for you guys to read as possible, so seriously, give feedback.**

 **Just please, be constructive, that's all I ask.**

 **(Deep Breath) Now then!**

 **Next time on RTR!**

 **The moment you've ALL been waiting for!**

 **Nora…Will be Unleashed!**

 **Be ready…**

 **And as always, I am Reflective599 and thank you for reading!**

 **(FOLLOW! FAVORITE! REVIEW!)**


	5. The Fox's First Step (Part 1)

Disclaimer:Well, Pyrrha and Penny are dead, Neo's missing, Sakura's still alive and Nejis dead…Do you really think this would happen if I owned Rwby or Naruto?! Well either way, I don't own them.

Ch.5

A Fox's First Steps (Pt.1)

Throughout both of his lives, Naruto had grown accustomed to waking up to some pretty odd sights. Living in a shinobi village, on the streets, and, most recently, in a monster-filled forest tended to have that effect.

A collapsing ceiling? Anytime. A smoke-filled sky, acting as the backdrop for a medley of burning buildings? No problem. The opened and drooling maw of an Ursa Major, looking to turn him into its next meal? On one particularly bad morning in the forest… yup.

A pair of shining turquoise colored eyes so bright that he could have sworn they _literally_ had tiny bolts of electricity sparking behind them?

He blinked

' _That's a new one.'_

For indeed, just such a pair of eyes hung not an inch above his face as he reentered the land of consciousness, with absolutely no idea as to where they had come from.

Getting no sense of danger from the person, he decided to grab the bull by the horns, smiling in amusement before speaking to… whoever it was.

"Um, hi?"

If it was possible, the eyes seemed to get _brighte_ r as he addressed their owner before they pulled back and allowed him room to raise himself up.

Turning to face the person fully, he was met with the sight of a girl who couldn't have been much older than he was.

In addition to the bright turquoise eyes he had seen earlier, she also had short orange hair that spiked out in all directions at its ends with a wide grin spread across her face. She wore a dark grey T-shirt with the word "Boop" written on the chest, a pair of pink shorts patterned with white thunderbolts, and a set of short white socks to complete the look.

Currently, she was sitting Indian-style, leaning forward as she rocked back and forth, watching him with barely restrained enthusiasm.

"Hi!" she exclaimed happily, the dam on that excitement finally bursting "Are those whiskers real?! They're sooooooooooo cute! Like a kitten's! I like kittens, almost as much as I like sloths! Do you know what sound a sloth makes? Me and Renny need it for a plan later." She pointed behind her at a dark-haired boy in a green pajama top, several meters away blearily rubbing the sleep out of his eyes "He's my best friend! Oh! I almost forgot! I'm Nora! Nora Valkyrie! What's your name?!"

Naruto blinked _very_ slowly as the girl's … tangent, ran down.

' _Well'_ he thought to himself after a minute _'Isn't she lively?'_

Seeing the girl still watching him expectantly, eye's still wide with energy, he took a moment to run through everything she said in his head before responding.

"Alright then, in order: Thanks. Pretty sure it's a "Ehhh!"! kind-of sound, mixed with a squeak, I think. Hi!" he raised a hand at the older boy, who seemed surprised at the action "and finally, it's very nice to meet you Nora, I'm Naruto."

"Oooooh" she said in awe, before smiling "That was cool!"

"Nora?" A calm, if mildly confused voice called from a distance.

Looking over, they saw the boy gesturing to the excitable girl that it was time to move on.

"Awww" she moaned, head slumping, disappointed at having to leave her new friend so soon "Guess I gotta go" she immediately brightened again as she shot him another bright smile "It was nice meeting you! See you later Whiskers!"

With that, she quickly hopped to her feet before practically skipping her way over to her friend's side to officially start the day.

The young Faunus watched her go, slightly stunned at the experience, absently noting the hammer with a lightning bolt through the center on the back of her shirt while trying to understand just what the heck had just happened.

Enraptured with his thoughts as he was, he failed to notice the way her friend's eyes seemed to narrow as he looked at the younger boy.

0

Far too awake after that… _experience_ to even attempt to sleep again, Naruto quickly got up and got dressed before attempting to find Ruby, Jaune, or Blake, wrapping his tail securely around his waist as he sought to touch base with at least one of his new friends before the initiation started.

Walking aimlessly through the Locker Room, and having forgone breakfast in favor of grabbing his gear and exploring the room, he reflected on the strange encounter.

' _She was…different'_ he thought to himself idly. At one point, he would have just called her weird and left it at that but after having known Lee… Yeah, no one hyperactive could ever seem truly weird again when compared to that guy.

' _Cute though. Definitely cute. I mean, orange hair?_ 'he whistled.

That was just downright awesome!

He pulled himself from his musings as he spotted Ruby, speaking with her sister as she cuddled with the form of her scythe/rifle.

…

'Oh, this I _gotta_ hear!'

"Yo, everybody! What's going on?" he said happily as he approached, drawing the two's attention to him.

"Naruto!" Ruby said happily once she'd seen who'd spoken.

"Heya, Little Red, good to see you. You come back down yet?" he said with a smile to show he was teasing, remembering her little freak out when she heard about his…early years.

She looked at him in confusion for a moment before blushing as she remembered what he was talking about "Y-yeah, sorry about that. Guess I got a little carried away…"

She scratched the back of her head nervously, half-afraid she had managed to scare one of her new friends away with her enthusiasm.

Naruto waved her off "Don't worry about it, you just kind caught me off guard is all. If you were serious, I wouldn't mind teaching you a few tricks. I mean, if you're interested."

"YES!" she said immediately, before realizing her mistake "I mean… yes, thank you."

Naruto chuckled at her, glad to see she was back on track.

"Eh hem!"

They both turned to see Yang, having just coughed into her hand, before nudging her younger sister and glancing at the young Faunus in front of her.

"Oh, that's right!" the younger girl exclaimed in realization "You two haven't met yet! Naruto this is- "

"Yang. Yang Xiao Long" said the older girl, interrupting her younger sister "Ruby's older sister. Pleasure to officially meet you tall, blonde and Foxy." She finished with a wink, smirking as she out her hand to shake.

"Naruto, and I assure you…" he trailed off with a smirk of his own before, on a whim, he grasped the hand she'd offered before turning it over and placing a soft kiss on her knuckles.

"The pleasure's all mine."

"Oooooh, your smooth" she said smirk turning into full blown smile.

Both ignoring the gagging sounds Ruby made at their actions, Yang gave the young fox Faunus a quick once over.

"Gotta say, it was a good thing you showed up when you did last night. The way Ruby was talking, I thought you were like one of those imaginary friends she made up when we were kids."

"Yang! "the younger girl whined.

"Well, I wouldn't put it past her, the little ones always do have the biggest imaginations."

"Naruto!"

She pouted at the two blondes' teasing grins "I wouldn't have made him up Yang! Seriously, that would be absolutely- "

"Ridiculous!" exclaimed Jaune, popping up between the two sisters as he added himself to the group "There's no way I put my stuff in locker 636! I would have remembered having to count that high! Why- Oh shoot, I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?"

He would have continued, until he noticed the looks on their faces. While Yang and Ruby looked confused by his presence, Naruto only looked amused at the older blonde.

"Not much" he said, chuckling to himself softly "Just teasing Ruby."

"Oh" said Jaune mulling that over, before he smirked "Then I'm just in time! How can I help?"

"Jaune!"

While Yang looked surprised at how easily he'd fallen into the joke, Naruto only laughed louder.

"I knew there was a reason I liked this guy."

"Ugghhhh, you guys are the worst!" the younger girl pouted at her friends.

"Aww, don't worry Rubes "said Yang, snagging the younger girl in a one-armed headlock "We still love you!"

"Knock it off!" she said, wrestling herself free before stalking off, mumbling about annoying sisters and traitorous best friends.

"Well, guess we'll see you guys later." Said Yang as she followed her sister away, raising a hand at them over her shoulder "Try not to miss me too much Foxy!"

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto waving back with a smile as the two sisters made their way around the corner and out of sight.

Jaune watched them go in concern, a tad worried at the younger girl's reaction "You…you don't think we went too, far do you?"

The young fox boy waved him off "Nah, it was just a little teasing, she'll forgive us after a while. And if she doesn't, well, we'll just have to make it up to her.

Jaune seemed to think for a minute before smiling as he nodded.

Turning slightly as he heard voices, the older blonde caught sight of a familiar face out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh shoot, it's that girl from last night!" he said surprised, before hurriedly straightening out his clothes "Wish me luck!"

"Luck?" Naruto asked in disbelief "Forget that, I'm coming with. Any girl that's got you this messed up, I have gotta meet!

Not having time to argue, the young knight quickly nodded before starting off, the amused younger boy following a few steps behind him.

As he trailed behind, he took a moment to take in who they were moving toward.

There was a tall, attractive redhead decked out in bronzed armor and…

' _Oh no.'_

…The Schnee.

Yep, standing directly next to the crimson haired girl, who, he noticed looking closer, looked distinctly uncomfortable in her presence, was one Weiss Schnee, a downright sinister look on her face.

' _Oh Lord no'_ he thought watching as his friend made his way toward the two girls, before crossing his fingers as he began to silently chant.

' _Please be after the redhead! Please be after the redhead! Please be- '_

"…Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you" he heard, cracking an eye open as the older boy angled himself in front of the white themed girl.

' _Damn it!'_

Taking a deep breath, he pushed his way forward to run interference, just in time to hear the "Snow Princess" look at Jaune in aggravation before saying:

"You again!"

Happy for such an easy in, he smiled before sliding himself in her line of sight "'Fraid so princess, miss me?"

"You…!" she growled as she spotted him, anger rising as she saw the teasing grin on his face.

"Nice to meet you both!" said the red-haired girl, injecting herself back into the conversation and staving off the explosion that was an angered Weiss.

While Naruto nodded in her direction, Jaune hurriedly pushed past her with a hasty "Yeah, yeah", focusing on the shorter girl with a slight pose in his stance "So, Weiss, I couldn't help but overhear your fondness for me the other day."

Naruto frowned at his action, and would have made a comment had he not spotted the redheads face afterwards.

Though she seemed mildly shocked by the young knight's dismissal, her look quickly took on one of appreciation as she watched him with interest.

Slightly confused, the young Faunus filed that away for later, and chose to remain silent.

Weiss, however, didn't seem to have the same level of restraint "Oh you have _got_ to be kidding me!" she groaned.

"Hey, hey" the knight said in a placating tone "No need to feel embarrassed. So, I been hearing rumors about teams! Figured you and I would make a good one, what do you say?"

Before the white-themed girl could rebuke him, the redhead quickly regained his attention "Actually, I think that teams are formed of four students each so- "

"You don't say" he interrupted smoothly, rounding on the other girl with a smile "Well in that case, play your cards right and you might be able to join our winning team!" Here he gestured to the now mortified looking Schnee and the face palming fox Faunus.

Quickly stepping forward to separate the two, the young heiress fixed the taller blonde with an accusatory look "Listen, Jaune, is it? Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

Stepping into place next to Naruto so he was facing the Heiress in full, he gave her a slightly confused look "Not in the slightest." He looked at his fellow blonde, who only shook his head "Yeah, we're drawing a blank over here."

" _This_ is Pyrrha." She emphasized.

" _~Hello again~!"_ the now named Pyrrha said in a cheerfully melodious voice as she raised a hand to the two in greeting.

Seeing nothing but blank looks, the white themed girl tried a different tactic "Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum!"

"Um, cool?" the young knight responded unsurely, looking at her strangely.

She scoffed "She's won the Mistral Region Tournament four years in a row! A new record!"

"Um" he chuckled nervously "The what?"

Naruto grew pensive at her words, looking the taller girl over again.

Getting fed up, the girl began waving her arms wildly "She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!"

He gasped, before pointing at the girl "That's _you?!"_

Weiss groaned, face in hand ' _Of course._ _That's what he recognizes.'_

Pyrrha smiled bashfully, a light dusting of pink staining her cheeks" Yeah, it was pretty cool. Sadly, I don't think the cereal's very good for you."

Weiss stared at the still awestruck boy in annoyance "Seriously, after everything I just said, do you really think you're in a position to ask _her_ to be on your team?

Naruto piped in before he could answer, having seen the dejected look on his face at her question, his hands behind his head as he spoke off handedly "Sure, why not?"

Weiss looked livid "What?!"

"I mean" he looked at the young Spartan in curiosity "Would _you_ mind being on a team with him?"

Pyrrha started a little as the boy addressed her directly, honestly more accustomed to people discussing her as if she wasn't in the room. It was slightly irritating, but it came with the whole _celebrity_ thing and she'd learned to just grit and bear it.

As such, it took her a minute to process the question, but after she did she smiled before looking in Jaune's direction "I think I'd enjoy that very much."

While Weiss gaped at her response, the knight in question looked at her in surprise.

"R-Really?"

She nodded resolutely "Indeed. I have no doubt that you would make a great leader Jaune."

"D'oh, stop it! "he said in embarrassment, genuinely blushing at her praise.

"Please do." Grumbled Weiss, annoyed that the two boys had managed to throw a monkey wrench in her plans for the taller girl.

"Now that we have that settled, there's only one thing left" said Naruto, as his face went from impassive to pensive in a matter of moments as his eyes zeroed in on Pyrrha, startling the others.

The girl in question couldn't help but gulp at the change in demeanor "A-and that would be?"

Stepping forward so they were only an inch apart, the young Fox Faunus looked her dead in the eye "Look, I'm pretty much 0 for 3 on the specifics Snow was throwing out earlier, but if I've got the gist correct, you're some kind of famous badass fighter, right?"

"Well, I wouldn't put it like that, but…?" She said slowly, unsure where he was taking this.

The boy nodded to himself, as he processed her answer "I want a spar."

His tone shifted immediately as he spoke, becoming far more light-hearted, and the girl would be lying if she said he hadn't thrown her for a loop.

"Excuse me?" she asked slowly, wondering if she had heard him right.

"I want a spar."

Seeing her bewildered look, the boy sighed before elaborating "It has been nine years since I last fought a human. Nine _long_ years. Considering how my last… _encounte_ r… went with that particular race…Suffice it to say I'd like to see how much stronger I've gotten since then." He shrugged "Figured a world class fighter wouldn't be a bad place to start for a test run. So, how 'bout it?"

Pyrrha took a moment to consider his words, taking note of the way he hissed the word "encounter", before the she nodded to herself, the smile she'd held quickly morphing into competitive smirk "I'd be happy to accept your challenge."

The boy returned her smirk "That's what I like to hear." He held out a hand "It's a deal then Miss…?"

Catching on, the girl grasped his outstretched as she officially introduced herself "Nikos. Pyrrha Nikos."

He smiled as he shook her hand "Glad to meet you Miss Nikos. Name's Naruto Uzumaki, at your service."

Releasing his hand, the girl gained a pensive look "Naruto Uzumaki? Why does that sound familiar?"

The boy seemed to think for a minute "Suffice it to say, if your famous, I'm…Infamous, so to speak, I'm gonna leave it at that."

She nodded, just as a female voice came over the intercom "Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon cliff immediately."

The boy smirked "Sounds like that's our queue. See yah later Red."

With that he turned on his heel, rousing the other two of their group who had been watching the pair with curiosity (Jaune) and annoyance (Weiss), nodding at the scowling Schnee heiress with a cheeky grin before grabbing his friend by the back of his hood and practically dragging him towards the meeting point.

"Come on lover-boy, test time!"

"Hey, wait!" the older blonde said, trying to wiggle out of his friend's grip to no success, as he was rapidly pulled away from the two girls.

Watching the two's interaction with amusement, Pyrrha waved a quick goodbye to the pair "It was nice meeting you!"

"L-Likewise!" yelled Jaune as he was finally pulled past the corner and out of the girl's sight.

The two girls remained standing there for a moment, just letting what they'd just seen sink in, before the redhead broke the silence, nodding as she smiled "I liked them."

With that, she began to follow after the two to the cliff, all the while being chased by the snow haired Heiress trying to change her mind about her choice in friends.

0

"Dude, did you _really_ have to drag me out of there?" asked Jaune, as he and Naruto walked towards the edge of the cliff for initiation.

"Yep; If I left it up to you, you'd probably still be over there trying to flirt."

"… Your point?"

"Besides the fact you'd have probably missed initiation all together if you thought you were getting somewhere?" Naruto asked sarcastically "Your bad at it. One of them would probably attacked you before it was over. Rule one of Flirtation my friend: Less is more. Trust me, that train wreck was getting painful to watch.

Jaune grimaced "That bad?"

His friend nodded "Pretty much, that "Casanova" crap is damn-near poison, the hell were you thinking?"

The boy sighed, before explaining "My Dad said all women look for is confidence! So, I figured… You know. "

The younger boy sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose "Alright, here's where you messed up. That back there? That wasn't confidence, that was _bravado._ Big difference!"

Seeing his confused look, the younger boy pushed forward "Ladies can't stand that fake crap; half of them take it as an insult, and the rest think the guy using it is an idiot; Not a good look, trust me."

Hearing this, Jaune, ever the elegant speaker, managed to fully air his thoughts on the matter in only one word:

"Shit."

"'Bout sums that up, yeah" the younger boy nodded at his now face-palming friend. "Look, put it out of your mind for now, focus on initiation; it ain't that hard a fix, just dial it back some next time. Now come on, we got Grimm-ass to kick!"

Obviously still a little peeved at himself, but seeing the truth in his friend's words, the older blonde forced the matter to the back of his mind, before the two of them made to join the rest of the initiates on the cliffs edge.

He'd beat himself up later.

0

Beacon Cliff. For years, this landmark had served as the first stepping stone for legions of finely tuned warriors: Hunters and Huntresses now known the world over for their skills in battle.

Hundreds, if not thousands of had stood upon this cliff, preparing to take the plunge into what would hopefully be a life defining moment, often awestruck by the vast magnitude of the of the Emerald Forest stretching out for miles beneath them or lulled into a determined silence by the dangers they were about to face.

Naruto, however, looked at the drop with only one thought in mind.

' _Cliffs. Why the hell is it always a damn cliff?!'_

Yes, while most students were too awestruck or scared to think of anything besides the upcoming examination, Naruto was more focused on the area itself.

Seriously, between his "Encounter" nine years ago and that crap Pervy-Sage had pulled before the Chunin Exam, he had had just about enough of these damn things.

Something authority figures just couldn't seem to respect.

' _I swear to Oum if I get chucked off this one too…'_ he groused internally, eye twitching as he eyed the drop.

The guy hadn't said anything about it (yet), but knowing his luck…

It wasn't as if he couldn't survive the fall, but it was the principle behind it! Who the hell chucks teenagers off cliffs?!

Sure, the thought crosses a bunch of people's minds, but come on!

What was next? Setting them on fire?!

Shaking his head, he looked to either side from his place standing on a silver tile set into the cliff, spotting several familiar faces as he did so.

Jaune stood directly to his left, looking exceedingly nervous as the test drew closer.

Ruby stood directly next to him, her sister on her other side, looking no less nervous, clutching at her weapon for comfort.

Despite himself, the combination of that and the red and black gothic-lolita look she had going on, along with her smaller size, left him with only one thought:

' _Too. Damn._ _ **Cute!**_ _'_

Standing in stark contrast to the younger girl's shyness was her older sister. The smirk on her face and the practically hungry look in her eye, even from as far away as he was, spoke only of confidence and anticipation. Add on the sexy cowgirl/biker chick outfit she had on, and everything about her just screamed "Wild Child".

And he sure as heck wasn't going to complain; she was kindred spirit if he'd ever seen one.

 _That_ was gonna be fun later.

Blake stood down further still, looking over the forest below impassively, her clothing barely ruffling in the wind, a look of determination set into her gold colored eyes.

He shook his head at the sight.

He liked her well enough, but _damn_ did she need to lighten up!

He smirked; challenge accepted.

A few people past her, he spotted that hyper- orange haired girl, Nora, bouncing on the balls of her feet and chattering away about Oum-knows-what to the green-clad boy from earlier, who seemed to take it all in stride as he fought to stay awake.

Apparently, this was normal for them.

Alright then.

Lesson in contrast right there.

And last, but certainly not least, second to last at end of the line stood Pyrrha. Armor shining, weapon in hand, looking out over the forest with a mixture of determination and anticipation, effectively ignoring Weiss who stood next to her, awkwardly attempting to make conversation and get into her good graces.

His smirk grew wider.

There it was.

Yeah, he knew there was a reason he liked her.

All in all, it wasn't a bad group, interesting at the very least.

Granted, there were some exceptions, like four oddly plain looking boys on his right, decked out in dull colored armor and sporting even duller expressions.

But hey, every class had to have its clowns.

The sneer the one with the bird- symbol on his chest shot him once he'd spotted his tail, however, was noted.

His musings about the cute girls and thickheaded boys that made up his class were cut short by the sound of Ozpin clearing his throat for attention, the wind's carrying of the sound and tension in the nerves of the students allowing everyone to hear him.

His signature mug in hand, the silver haired headmaster looked the students over, making sure he had their attention before speaking.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Taking a step back, he allowed his blonde companion, Glynda Goodwitch if he remembered right, to speak next.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of "teams." Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates… **today.**

There was some slight worried muttering among the students at this revelation.

Naruto just raised an eyebrow.

After the chattering had died down, Ozpin took over where Goodwitch had left off

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So, it is in your best interest to be paired with someone whom you can work well with."

' _Why do I not like where this is going?'_ Naruto thought offhandedly, hearing Ruby groan from where she stood.

Ozpin continued "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

You could hear a pin drop.

Everything, from the animals to the elements, seemed to go silent at those words, only broken by a cry of "WHAAAAT?!" alongside a smug voice's "Told you so."

These came from Ruby and Nora, respectively.

Naruto's eyes widened, rethinking his assumptions of everyone present, considering the man's words, summing the new situation up simply.

' _Shit just got real.'_

Evidently not noticing (or, probably not caring about) the number of young minds/ hearts he'd broken with the info bomb he'd just dropped, Ozpin continued.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path…or you **will** die."

'Huh, déjà vu.' Naruto thought idly, remembering the last time he'd gotten instructions to kill from a guy with silver hair.

... That didn't bode well.

"You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene." Ozpin warned "You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and we will grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

Jaune seemed to hesitate a moment, before nervously raising a hand.

"Yeah, uh, sir?"

" **Good!"** Ozpin asserted, ignoring the young knight "Now then, take your positions."

Everyone struck a pose on their tile at this instruction.

Nora crouched low, ready to take the plunge.

Her dark-haired friend drew his weapons, prepared for battle.

Yang raised her fists in anticipation.

Ruby readied her body, steeling her nerves.

Naruto cracked his neck, preparing for the fights to come.

Jaune?

Jaune was still raising his hand.

Yeah…

Apparently not noticing the tense states of his would-be classmates, the armored boy continued trying to gain the headmaster's attention.

"Uh, sir? I have a, uh… a question". He stated nervously, turning to face the older man, missing Weiss's tile rise up like a spring board and fling her into the forest.

Naruto watched her go impassively, left eye beginning to twitch _'No…'_

"So, this whole landing…strategy…thing… Uh, what exactly, you know, _is_ that? Are you gonna like, drop us off or…something?"

Ozpin looked at him impassively "No. You will be falling."

More students flew off into the distance.

Naruto's twitch intensified _'No, no, no…'_

Jaune remained oblivious, trying to wrap his mind around the silver haired man's words.

"Oh, uh" he gulped "So did you, like, hand out parachutes or…?"

The silver haired man shook his head "No, you will be using your own "landing strategy."

An excited Nora was launched next, followed by her exceedingly stoic friend a few seconds later.

Naruto growled in frustration, startling the short, close-eyed boy beside him.

' _Dang it!'_ he thought in aggravation.

"Um, okay then…?" Jaune continued, still not noticing the distinct lack of students behind him.

Feeling the gears beneath her feet beginning to twist, Yang winked at Ruby before flipping out a pair of aviators (from Oum only knows where) and being launched into the fray, an excited cry escaping her lips only a second before the younger girl herself was rocketed skyward.

Jaune's confusion remained "So, what exactly-?"

"Jay, buddy" a thoroughly annoyed Naruto interrupted "Just tuck and roll before you hit the ground, and you'll be fine alright?"

"Um, okay? "the older boy said uncertainly, "What do you meaNNNNN…!"

That last bit was the sound of the young knight being launched into the air, as his turn to be tested came up.

Naruto blinked at his sudden exit, before slowly turning to Ozpin with a raised brow, annoyance pushed to the side for the moment.

"…Really?"

And with that, he was sent skyward, speeding off in the same direction as his white armored friend.

Ozpin watched the young Faunus's flight impassively, taking a slow sip of his coffee.

"Really." He answered the still hanging question with a completely straight face.

0

"Son of a-!" he began to yell with righteous indignation, before cutting himself off.

Now was not the time.

He'd punch the headmaster in the face later.

Right now, he needed to come up with a "landing strategy."

Speaking of which…

"Hey, buddy." He said, having angled his descent so he was gliding next to his still falling friend "How's it hanging?"

"Ahhhh!" Came the ever so eloquent reply.

"Yeah, 'bout what I figured. Hold on a minute."

He began scanning the tree line for a suitable entrance into the forest, senses fanned outwards to detect any airborne threats.

As it was, he could have sworn he heard a cry of "Birdie, no!" somewhere in the distance.

Huh.

Something to look into later.

He smirked as he spotted an exposed branch.

' _Bingo._ '

"Alright dude, here we go." He said, re-angling his body to reach his new target and tugging on the older boy's hoodie to help him do the same. "Get your arms up! Here it-!"

He was cut off as all at once his instincts started going haywire, practically screaming, his arms already reacting before he could conjure a coherent thought, springing up just in time to catch a crimson and golden-bronze colored spear out of the air before it could impale him, stopping it with the blade less than an inch from his right temple.

"-Comes." He finished his last sentence absentmindedly, turning his head to examine the odd weapon that had found its way into his possession.

Jaune, of course, didn't notice this, a bit preoccupied with, oh, you know, **not** falling to his death!

So, though curious about the abrupt pause in his friend's speech, he forced the issue to the back of his mind alongside a large sum of his mounting panic as he followed the younger boy's instructions, raising his arms to latch onto the rapidly approaching branch.

And almost immediately regretted it.

He survived, yes, but _damn_ did it hurt! His arms were nearly torn out of their sockets!

Nonetheless, he managed to hold on long enough to swing himself to the ground, tucking into a roll as he hit the ground, his whiskered friend following shortly afterwards, the younger boy having absentmindedly popped the claws on his freehand to propel himself down, focus still centered on the foreign weapon.

Having landed a few seconds after the young knight, Naruto quickly turned his back to his friend, giving the older boy time to compose and look himself over while he considered the implications of the apparent attack on his person.

Now that he was on stable ground, he looked the weapon over with a little more detail.

' _Alright, what the hell?'_ He thought, legitimately confused _'I've barely been in this school for a day! I know haven't pissed anyone off enough to want to-."_

An image of an annoyed Weiss passed through his mind.

'… _Alright, I haven't pissed off anyone with a_ _ **spear**_ _that bad yet. '_

At least not as far as he knew…

' _Seriously, who do I know with a spear? Heck, who do I know with this color sch-?'_

An image of Pyrrha sprang to mind.

Pyrrha. With her _red_ hair and _bronze_ armor…

Oh.

Cleared that up.

So, next question: Why?

She didn't particularly strike him as the murderous type so…

Why chuck a spear at him?

' _Unless she wasn't aiming at me?'_

There was a thought.

She might have been aiming at Jaune. Dude did seem kinda lost up there, maybe she had been trying to help.

In her own… _Special_ way.

Yeah sure, that made sense. The girl seemed to like the older blonde well enough, the smiling, the encouragement, the blushing…

' _Oh, my Oum!'_ he thought with a sudden burst of clarity _'D-did I … Did I just cock-block?'_

He let that sit for a second.

Oh.

Oh no.

Yeah, this needed be rectified.

Immediately.

For those wondering, this little internal monologue took all of about two minutes, just enough time to let his fellow blonde make sure all his libs were still attached, and to thank Oum for the honor.

"Thanks for that dude, really. I would've been a goner without you." The young knight said happily, breathing out a sigh of relief as he turned to face his younger friend

"So, I guess we're partn- Why are your eyes closed?" He started off matter-of-factly, before shifting into confusion as he caught sight of the whiskered blonde's closed lids, before his eyes locked onto the foreign weapon "And why do you have a spear?"

Even with his eyes closed, the older blonde could tell the younger boy was 'looking' at him in amusement as he spoke, the slight smirk o his face adding to the effect.

"As cool as that would be, judging by this thing" At this he raised the spear slightly "And how close it came to turning me into a fox-kebab on its way to your hoodie, I'd say that cute redhead from earlier has already staked her claim."

"…What?"

The younger boy sighed "Look, just hold on to this" He said tossing the older boy the spear, who managed to catch it using both hands "And when she pops up, just be polite, go with the flow, and do what comes naturally. That simple, 'kay?"

"Um, alright?"

Nodding, the young Faunus turned making his way deeper into the forest, his back to the older boy as he raised a fist in farewell. "Good luck buddy!"

"Thanks! I think..." The armored boy yelled back, before quietly tapering off, still slightly bewildered by the boy's abrupt exit as he was left alone.

"Cute redhead?" he asked himself aloud, thinking over the younger boy's words "The heck is he talking about?"

0

Naruto made his way into the forests interior slowly, eyes still closed, allowing his heightened senses to guide his movements, only allowing himself to reclaim his sight once he could no longer sense the young knight's aura.

Once he'd made it out of range, he allowed his eyes to snap open, the bright sapphire pools reflecting the same mirth that Jaune had suspected earlier, a foxlike smirk making its way across his maw.

' _Ah, matchmaking, how you entertain me.'_

What?

Just because his past life couldn't catch a clue about that sort of thing to save his own life, didn't he couldn't recognize a few things.

Least he could do was help it along.

If he was wrong, well, least his new friend had a decent partner to back him up.

' _Besides'_ his smirk widened _'Either way, teasing them later will be hilarious.'_

With that happy thought in mind, he picked a direction that felt…north-ish, and set out complete his own test in earnest, honestly not caring if he found a partner on the way or not.

Best not to sweat the small stuff, you know.

"Ruby's probably going a little nuts right now though." He mused aloud, smiling fondly at the thought of the younger girl.

Honestly, it almost shocked him how quickly he'd fallen in with his little pack of friends.

It had taken his past life twelve years just to get his _class_ to stop hating him, let alone his village, but now? He was chatting up and teasing cute girls that could put half the fledgling Kunoichi in his old class to shame with their looks alone, not to mention their skills, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Life could just be funny like that sometimes, huh?

Well…His life at least.

Frankly, it was a little frightening.

But that was what made it fun.

If he tried hard enough, he could probably come up with some "logical" reason behind his social skills, something like Fox's being pack animals or carry-over from his past life's endearing nature, but honestly, he didn't care.

As far as he was concerned, he didn't need an explanation as to why he'd grown attached to them.

They were _his_ friends.

Plain and simple.

The friends his past life had made, Jiraiya, Tsunade, the rest of the Rookie Twelve, they had all been amazing, and would always be a part of him in some way, no matter how many lifetimes he had to go through.

But they were his past.

He had accepted that he would never see them again years ago, during his time in the forest.

It had been hard, in fact, that had been the only time he had allowed himself to cry since he was three, as he realized how alone he was with his new life.

But he had needed to move on.

He had seen first-hand how holding to tightly to one's past could harm the future, and he couldn't, he _wouldn't_ allow himself to do that.

It would just shame their memory.

That's why having these new friends was so important to him. Why he had allowed himself to trust them so quickly.

They were his future, his tethers to this new world he found himself wrapped up in, and he would always be grateful for that.

After all, when your Naruto Uzumaki, the bonds made the man.

A deep, throaty growl emanated from the surrounding foliage, tearing the young Faunus from his musings.

Shifting his eyes in the direction it came from and taking hold of one of the blades on his back with his right hand, he couldn't help the smirk of anticipation that spread across his face as an Alpha Beowulf, alongside six or seven of its beta kinsmen, emerged from the bushes, snarling as they caught sight of him.

His smirk only widened as he unsheathed his blade, shifting into all too familiar opening stance, before made the come-on gesture.

"Bring it."

0

"All students have been launched and are accounted for." Informed Glynda in her typically stoic tone, looking at Ozpin.

"Good." Replied the silver haired man simply, taking a sip from his thermos as he watched the exam's live video feed.

"So." His blonde-haired companion started conversationally, or at least as conversationally as someone like her could, giving her old teammate a mildly curious look "Notice anything of interest?"

Ozpin didn't answer immediately, choosing instead to study the various battles that were going on throughout the forest below, before his were eventually drawn to the young Fox Faunus he had gone out of his way to recruit.

He watched as they boy easily dispatched the pack of Beowolves that had stumbled across him, flipping and ricocheting through and off the trees surrounding, bearing down on the beasts below him as if they were the simplest of prey.

For him, they probably were.

The attack was so rhythmic and fluent it seemed almost rehearsed in its execution, in all honesty a sort of marvel to watch.

So much in fact, that he almost missed it.

It happened during one of the boy's rebounds. Using his momentum, he sailed over one of the beasts' heads before letting loose with a visceral slash, spiraling his body in the air as he did before landing on the creature's other side and leaping his way back into the trees with one fluid motion.

It was impressive, advanced, and something that would take even the most well-trained Huntsman or Huntress months or even years to master using in the field.

But more importantly, it was familiar.

He had known a young girl nearly a decade ago who had performed much the same maneuver during her own entrance exam, in much the same way.

With much the same type of weapon.

And he didn't believe in coincidences.

Not anymore.

He would need to think on this later, but for now…

"Yes." He answered the smaller woman finally, eyes narrowed at the scene as it played out in full "Something very interesting indeed."

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hello lovely people of the Internet! In case you didn't know, my name is Reflective599, this is my first fanfic, and I am loving writing it!**

 **Now, with that being said, you all know what time it is: that's right, time for the all-important technicals!**

 **Alright, first off, the reasons this took so long: A.) Computer's still wonky, apparently, I can only upload from one section of Word (I don't why) and B.) Finals… They're here and coming for my soul...**

 **So yeah, bear with me.**

 **Now then, with that out of the way, let's get to down to the reason that this is a two-parter: It was Too. Dang. LONG!**

 **Honestly, this and Part 2 were supposed to be one big chapter, but that fight (You know the one) made it stretch way further then it should have, so I had to split it.**

 **What can you do?**

 **On the plus side though, that means Chapter 6 is now about 95% done, so look for it in the future.**

 **In other good news: We got Nora baby! And just for a little added fun we got Ren to, and a little Pyrrha for good measure!**

 **Hopefully I got there characters right, and before you even ask, yes, next time you'll get to see them in all their battle-ready glory.**

 **Don't even worry about it.**

 **Feel free to tell me how I did on them, seriously, I need the feedback (and more reviews) but please, NO FLAMES!**

 **They Sting.**

 **Not gonna lie, it might take a while before Chapter 6 is up (Snow's going through Finals as well I'm sure) but don't worry, it'll come. I'm not quitting this story any time soon.**

 **With all that said, as always, I am Reflective599, and thank you for reading! PEACE!**

 **P.S**

 **I've been watching vol.4 recently! Suffice to say Its kicking arse, and already plotting what to do with it once this story reaches that point (Hint: Ice Cream, anyone?)**

 **P.P.S**

 **Also, for one guest in particular: The chapters up, call off the Baby Pandas!**

 **(FOLLOW! FAVORITE! REVIEW)**


	6. The Fox's First Step (Part 2)

Disclaimer: Which do you think is better, Red or Gold? Just as colors, I mean? Leave your answer in the reviews, if you want. Either way, RoosterTeeth owns Rwby, Kishimoto owns Naruto. I am none of these people!

Ch.6

A Fox's First Steps (Pt.2)

As Naruto fought for his life, and Ozpin meditated on how he did it, Ruby Rose was engaged in her own desperate struggle; One that would define her life for years to come and decide the fates thousands!

She was trying to find a partner.

Oh, stop laughing and listen! This was serious!

After being launched, and accidently decapitating a small Nevermore ("Birdie, no!"), the red-themed girl had landed in a crouch amongst the trees before taking off in a sprint like an Olympic runner in search of her sister.

"Gotta find Yang! Gotta find Yang, gotta find Yang, gotta find…" She chanted to herself as she darted through the trees, before raising her voice "YANG! YAAAANG! Aw Jeez…"

Receiving no answer, the red themed girl continued pushing herself forward, staving off her growing panic by trying to come up with a backup plan if she couldn't find the older girl, a chibi version of herself appearing to in her mind's eye to illustrate.

"Oh, this is bad; this is really bad… What if I can't find her? What if someone else finds _her_ first?" she asked herself worriedly before trying to console herself _'Well, there's always Jaune.'_ A tiny version of the young knight popping into mind to join her own _'He's nice.'_ remembering him helping her up _'He's funny!'_ an image of laughing with _him '…I don't think he's very good in a fight, though.'_ Here an image of Jaune's chibi being torn apart by mini Beowolves appeared.

…Yikes.

Yeah… R.I.P mini-Jaune, we hardly knew you.

"Ooh!" Ruby breathed excitedly as another thought occurred to her, immediately brushing aside chibi Jaune's death as the image dissipated "What about Blake?!"

She gained a pensive look _'So mysterious, so calm…Plus, she likes books!_ ' She thought this last part excitedly, before drooping ' _Then again, I'm not sure I'd be able to hold a conversation with her…Ugh.'_

' _Wait, wait! What about Naruto?!'_ she thought excitedly remembering the whiskered blonde _'He used to be a real superhero! He's perfect!'_ she sighed ' _He's nice, funny, cool, and really handso-WAIT, WHAT?!'_ She thought before cutting herself off in alarm, blushing at the route her thoughts had taken.

Where the heck had that last one come from?

Uhh, yeah, she might wanna hold off on finding him till she got a grip on herself.

Dang it…

She sighed ' _Okay then, not him…Who else do I know in this school_?' _There's Yang, Jaune, Blake Naruto, aaaand…'_

Time seemed to slow for the red themed girl as she skidded to a halt, just in time to lock eyes with…

Weiss.

…

Ah, crap.

A pregnant pause followed as the two girls just looked at one another, Ruby offering a shy smile as the older girl watched her impassively for a moment, before turning on her heel and marching off in the opposite direction.

"Hey wait!" Ruby called after the white themed girl "Where are you going?!" she stopped and kicked the ground dejectedly "We're supposed to be teammates…"

0

Weiss walked forward resolutely, refusing to acknowledge the younger girl's word's as she waded into the dense shrubbery.

Not her!

Anyone but her! Seriously! She would partner up with literally _anyone_ other than that spaz!

The only thing that would be worse would be having to work with the Flying Fox or…

The scar-faced girl stopped as she felt someone's eyes on her, looking up to see Jaune, who had been standing under the tree from earlier whistling a tune to pass the time as he waited for his still unknown partner, lips still puckered as he made eye contact with the smaller girl.

… _Him_.

They just stood there in a slightly awkward silence for a moment until it was broken by Jaune who, after straightening his features, shot her a hesitant smile and raised a hand in greeting

"Um, hi?"

Weiss just stared at him for a moment, before once again turning around and marching away the way she came, grabbing Ruby by her hood and dragging her in the same direction shortly thereafter.

"By no means does this make us friends."

"You came back!" the younger girl exclaimed happily, choosing to ignore the older girls aggravated words.

The heiress only groaned in response _'Ugh, why me?'_

She took a deep breath, still pulling the younger girl along _'At least this one isn't some flirty fanboy.'_

0

Said "Flirty Fanboy" AKA Jaune Arc, remained standing where he had been, hand still raised, watching as the white themed girl beat a hasty retreat.

"Well." He said dryly, lowering his hand "That was rude."

Seriously, she could have at least said something. What the heck?

He looked at where she'd stood a moment longer, before shrugging to himself and walking back to where he'd started, leaning against the tree next to where he'd stabbed the spear into the ground to keep his hands free.

Wasn't the first time he'd been rejected.

Wouldn't be the last.

He was used to it.

' _Hoh wow.'_ He thought to himself, mildly _surprised 'Yeah, that was little too depressing. Gonna need to dial that back.'_

With that in mind, he closed his eyes and began whistling his tune again. It was the bare bones of some nonsense song he used to sing to two of his younger sisters, Jeanne and Jazz, to get them to go sleep and, when the three of them were younger, to get them to let go of his hair.

…What?

Yeah, he could sing, big deal. Moving on.

He would have continued like that, just allowing the sun that shined through the overhanging leaves to warm his skin as he waited, if the bushes in front of him hadn't begun to shake.

Now Jaune, despite popular belief, was by no means dumb. He could be exceedingly stubborn, and Oum knew he could be dense, but that was more a matter of conditioning than anything else.

A lack of, let's say, "Positive Reinforcement", from his peers in his home town made him prone to overlooking small details; He tended to take people and their words at face value. It made it easier to overlook any hurtful undertones.

He usually made up for this by being several steps ahead of the people around him. A bi-product of dealing with a combination of three hyperactive younger sisters and three older sisters and a mother who he swore were all borderline bi-polar during his early years.

And whom he shared a bathroom with.

Yeah…you'd learn to think ahead too.

So, when he noticed the bushes movement, his thoughts immediately sprang to the worst-case scenario, unsheathing his blade as the rest of his mind started pumping plan after plan through his head to either evade whatever Grimm was about to attack or, if he was _really_ lucky, take it down.

He needn't have worried.

Instead of the Beowulf or Ursa that he had been expecting to jump from the foliage, strangely, the only thing that emerged from the bushes, was a girl.

And Jaune damn near had had to catch his breath as he caught sight of her.

Honestly, when he'd first met the girl in front of him, he hadn't put too much thought into it, far too focused on his awkward attempts at flirting to take in any major details other than she was "very nice" and "very pretty."

However, something changed when he saw her at that moment.

Rising from amongst the leaves, golden-bronze armor shining as she appeared, offsetting her vibrant crimson hair as it trailed behind her, both contrasting and accentuating her flawless alabaster skin and toned figure.

No, she was a far, far cry from simply _pretty_ ; With the natural scene behind her, the young woman before him could be described as nothing less than a Warrior Goddess.

And yet… This image was somehow lost on him.

He paid it no heed, as he was focused on only one thing:

Her eyes.

With all the women that had shaped his early years, Jaune had been raised (sometimes literally) at near gunpoint to be a gentleman, taught to always look a lady in the eye, and he'd never been more grateful for that lesson then he was when he caught sight of the eyes of one Pyrrha Nikos.

They were downright _mesmerizing_ ; Two deep viridian colored pools, brighter than any emeralds he had ever seen, practically shining with mirth and kindness as she caught sight of him.

He had never seen a sight quite as a captivating, and, in the haze that preceded her approach, he could only muster one word to describe it:

"…Gorgeous…" he said in a voice so low it could barely be called a whisper.

"Jaune?" The girl asked curiously, oblivious to the thoughts she pulled him from.

"Huh? Oh, yeah! Pyrrha, right?" he asked with a forced sense of calm, ducking his head to shake away the blush rapidly staining his cheeks, traitorous thoughts pushed to the side, seeing the girl nod with a smile, which he returned as he sheathed his blade.

"So…" he started off slowly, pulling the spear from where he set it into the ground and holding it out to her "I take it this is yours."

Her smile grew wider as he handed it to her "Indeed, Thank you."

She had been concerned when her attempt at aiding him on the way down had been intercepted, but judging by how well he had made it into the forest, albeit with the aid of their mutual Faunus friend, her worry had been largely unfounded.

Her smile turned into a smirk after she'd paused for a moment "So, I take it there's still room on the "winning team" then?"

"Oh, ha, ha. Very funny." He huffed, crossing his arms before smiling to show he was joking.

They descended into a comfortable silence for a moment before Jaune spoke again "So, I guess we're partners now, think we oughta head out?"

She nodded "That would probably be best."

With a nod of his own, he began to go off in what felt northward, before a slight smirk spread across his face as an idea struck him.

"On second thought…" he said stopping, before moving to the side and lifting a low hanging branch, raising his head so she could see the impish grin on his face "Ladies first."

She smirked back "Such a gentleman."

"I try." Came the exceedingly cheeky reply, as he watched the young Spartan walk ahead of him.

And before you even ask, yes, he kept his eyes up.

Freakin' pervs…

As he followed behind her, he allowed his thoughts the chance to roam for a few moments.

' _Way to go Jaune, you got yourself a pretty cool partner.'_ He allowed himself a small smile ' _Nice, smart, funny, can take a joke and, dear Oum is she beauti-NO!"_ He shook his head _'Don't even go there! She's your friend Oum's sake!'_

As _if_ he stood a chance!

Besides, dating a teammate? Yeah…That probably wouldn't end well.

Best not to rock the boat…

He nodded to himself, glad the matter was settled as he stepped over a particularly large root.

He'd found a good partner and a good friend, he really shouldn't push his luck.

' _Still'_ a curious look upon his face as another thought came to mind ' _Makes me wonder what Naruto was talking about earlier.'_

0

As he slayed the last Beowulf, piercing its chest straight through its back just as it raised its claws for an X-shaped slash, Naruto was struck with the odd desire to either pat Jaune on the back…Or smack him upside his head.

Hm, seemed the guy had apparently done something either really cool, or _really_ stupid.

"Heck, knowing that guy it was probably both." He said to himself, shaking his head in bemusement before shrugging "Eh, I'll deal with it later."

He looked down at the still disintegrating husks of the Grimm he had slain, before slowly walking away, raising a hand in farewell as if the decaying beasts could understand him "Well, it's been fun but, I gotta go, see yah."

He walked off in a random direction, going a fair distance from where he'd left the rapidly decaying creatures, before he was halted by a sudden thought, as he scanned his surroundings.

"…The heck, am I?"

It would seem that, enraptured as he was with facing the beasts that had attacked him, he had instinctively fallen back into his old battle habits, rapidly leaping in and out of the trees, cutting their numbers down to nothing with his unique brand of blade and claw based Guerilla warfare.

Unfortunately for him, this style also relied on a large deal of movement on his part, at times taxing even his considerable stamina and often leaving him in areas miles away from where the battle had commenced, the creatures always following his movements until he had eradicated them entirely.

Granted, the style had worked just fine when he had been alone in the Icelandic forests of Atlas, when he'd had the entirety of the land to himself and the familiar rises and falls of Natural Energy in the region's air helped him distinguish between its different parts.

But in an unfamiliar forest, where the regions Natural Energy seemed to rise and falter on a whim, and he was restricted by a time limit with a set goal in mind…

Yeah, that was kind of a problem.

Not to mention…

He began whipping his head around in confusion, before raising his hands in a dramatic show of abject aggravation.

"All these trees look the freaking same!"

Seriously, it was downright creepy how similar they were, and staring at them left him with only one question.

"What now?"

As if the Heavens themselves sought to answer him, at that moment he was pulled from agitated state by a deep rumble, emanating from the ground and vibrating his bones only a split-second before his instincts screamed at him to _move!_

He did so, just in time to avoid the rampaging form of one of the most surreal sights he had ever seen in either of his lives.

Yes, _either_ of them.

Just, think about that for a minute.

It was a girl, something he was becoming accustomed to as of late, only this time it was one he recognized. It was the same girl that he had woken up to that morning, Nora Valkyrie if he was remembering correctly. As opposed to the pajamas she had worn earlier, she now wore a pink skirt, short white sneaker-like boots, and a white shirt underneath some type of armor, a heart design in the center of the shirts chest.

All in all, it fit her pretty well, but her outfit wasn't the thing that caught his attention, no, it was just something he noted in the back of his mind as she passed.

Why?

Well, it may have had something to do with the fact that she had ridden through the forest while mounted atop one of the _largest Ursa-Majors he had ever seen!_

Yeah, didn't see that every day.

He could only stare in awe as the smaller girl passed him by, wind whipping through her orange hair, a manic smile upon her face as her eyes practically sparked with excitement, her monstrous steed barreling through the greenery in her path as though it were nothing, before continuing past him without a second glance.

He just stood there a moment longer, watching her petite form riding off into the distance, trying to process what in the name of Monty he'd just seen.

Once he'd managed that, his head slowly began nodding as he voiced his opinion on the girl's actions in one word:

"Hot."

…What?

Despite his rather… _Unique_ childhood, he was still a teenage boy, of course he would form opinions of the girl's around him, it was only natural. Besides, from where he stood, power was downright _sexy,_ and you can't argue with the amount of power it took to turn a Grimm into a riding horse.

He wasn't trying to be insulting, it was just his honest opinion.

" _. . .Excuse me?"_ An agitated male voice asked from behind him " _What_ did you just say?"

. . . Of course, not everyone could understand his sentiment.

Turning around, Naruto was met with a pair of magenta colored eyes, practically glowing as they glared at him with restrained anger.

Looking their owner over, he noted that it was the boy Nora had pointed out earlier that morning.

He was about the same height as Naruto himself, maybe a centimeter or two shorter if you squinted. He wore a dark green, long sleeved tail-coat that buttoned diagonally, with black and gold trimming and pink sleeves, alongside a pair of plain white pants and black shoes.

Overall, he gave off a kind of "Lotus-Flower" vibe, with his most notable feature being the bright magenta streak in his dark hair that seemed to stretch to the center of his back, which matched the color of his eyes.

He might have made a comment about the whole "Flower-Power" dynamic he and Nora (who he assumed was this guy's partner) had going, if for no other reason than to lighten the mood, but judging by how the older boy's finger was twitching over the trigger of his weapon, he doubted it would be appreciated.

Noticing the glare still centered on him, their owner still waiting for his response, only one thought sprang to mind for the young Fox Faunus:

'… _The heck did I do?'_

0

Lie Ren, as opposed to what many might assume, was actually a very… Go-with-the-flow kind of person.

It was a matter of necessity, really; One did not maintain a lasting friendship with a person like Nora and expect to maintain any level rigid structure and discipline.

Anyone who told you otherwise was either lying or had no idea what they were talking about.

As such, the acrobatic young man spent a vast majority of his time in a state of constant flux, moving and acting in accordance with any and all antics his childhood friend got herself into, aiding with some and counteracting others as part of his role in their relationship.

Even so, after all their years together, a certain kind of… "routine" had develop between the two; a type of silent understanding that neither chose to deviate from, simply because they saw no reason to.

She would wake him early in the morning, regaling him with her latest idea or dream as he went through his morning rituals, before they would both set out into some new misadventure, Nora spearheading it while he simply sought to keep the both of them from getting in over their heads, usually exhausting himself in the process. After that he would crash into bed before the whole thing began again the next day.

Rinse and Repeat.

It may have been an odd routine, but it was theirs and he wouldn't change it for the world, and he doubted she would either.

Simple.

At least, until that morning.

No, that morning something had changed.

That morning he'd woken up at his usual time, and immediately known something was off.

It wasn't until he had sat up and began blearily rubbing the sleep from his eyes that he understood why: For the first time in years his return to consciousness wasn't brought about by his hyperactive friend's urgings; it had merely been out of habit.

Scanning the room, he spotted her several meters away, rocking back and forth as she sat listening intently to a younger boy with bright blonde hair and three whisker-like marks on each of his cheeks.

'… _Who's he?'_ The lotus themed boy thought in bewilderment, gaining a look of surprise as the youth raised his hand to him and called out a cheerful "Hi!"

He sat in silence for a moment longer, mulling over who this new person might be as he watched their interaction, before deciding to act.

"Nora?" he called out, allowing a hint of his confusion to color his tone, before waving her over once he'd gotten her attention.

He saw her slump in typical Nora-fashion as she said goodbye before making her way over to him, skipping the whole way.

His eyes narrowed, however, as he noticed the boy she was talking to blatantly watching her as she made her retreat from his presence.

' _This guy…'_ he thought uneasily as his friend reached him, smiling happily, ready to officially start the day _'I don't trust him.'_

His unease didn't diminish as the day continued on. If anything, it only grew as the time passed.

It would seem that the boy, whose name, he learned, was Naruto, had left an extremely profound impression on his hyperactive friend.

Where he had become accustomed to hearing a medley of topics as he listened to the bubbly girl's ramblings in the mornings, something seemed to change after she spoke to the younger boy.

His name continually popped up that morning. First as a footnote, as she went into detail about a plan she'd developed for the two of them to become partners involving bribery and sloths (100% seriously) and later as a subject as they got dressed for the day.

He took her comments about the boy with a grain of salt, listening as she went on about how cool he was or how cute she thought his whisker marks were, not really putting much thought behind them, after all, she was prone to doing this whenever she came across anyone of interest.

And then they'd went to Breakfast…

And she'd asked him if he thought Naruto liked pancakes, or if he thought she should _share_ some with him…

He had to forcibly stop himself from choking in shock at that.

Nora sharing pancakes with _anyone_ was rare enough; Outside of the two of them, a person was lucky if they even _saw_ one if Nora got into the same room with the fluffy pastries first. For her to offer to share some, especially with what was all but a complete stranger…

Suffice it say that the stoic young man had to fight the urge to check if the sky was falling or not.

This was surely a sign of the Apocalypse!

Luckily for him (and the rest of Remnant) she immediately bounced to a new topic afterwards, all but brushing aside the idea of sharing with the young Faunus.

But now he was worried.

Her interest in the blonde seemed to taper off after that, devolving into other topics, but his concern remained.

Just what had this guy done to get his best friend this interested in him this quickly?

Sure, if she had known him for a while it would be one thing, but as far as he knew she'd only met him that morning! Was it some sort of Semblance or…? More importantly, why?

Ren was nothing if not a realist. He knew how cruel some people could be, especially when it came to attractive young girls, and he had no desire to see his surrogate sister exposed to something like that.

Sure, he might seem paranoid, and he knew better than most that the hyperactive girl could take care of herself, but it didn't stop him from worrying anyway.

She was his best friend. It was only natural.

So, when he just happened to come across the subject of his anxiety after partnering up with Nora in the forest, just in time to hear him voice a comment about the excitable girl, he thought it best to. . . _err his opinions_ on the matter, so to speak.

The fact that he chose to do this while he had Storm-Flower in hand was purely coincidental.

Honestly.

" _. . . Excuse me?"_ He asked, trying to remain calm, tone just barely being colored by his mounting agitation as the younger boy turned to face him " _What_ did you just say?"

His fingers on his over his gun's triggers began to twitch ever so slightly as his eyes settled into a glare directed at the young Faunus.

It seemed he would need to explain a few things…

0

Typically, when one is faced with an angry and well-armed individual in an area conveniently devoid of indisputable witnesses, the correct courses of action are either A.) Run/Beg for mercy or B.) Punch the person in the face and get some distance while they're still reeling to plan your next moves.

There were _probably_ other options but…Those were the only one's he seemed to come across the most (though admittedly, he was _way_ more familiar with the latter then he was with the former).

Either would have worked, and he would have been at least partially justified in attempting one or the other.

It would have been a logical reaction.

Except, well…

Naruto blinked at the older boy's glare, more bemused by his show of anger than anything else as he tilted his head to the side in curiosity.

Yeah, Naruto didn't logic much.

Yes, while Ren was splitting his mind between preparing a plan to convince the younger male to back off of his younger sister figure and drilling a rose-tinted glare through the younger boy's head with only his eyes, Naruto's was focused on…well…

' _Who is this guy again?_ '

Other priorities.

' _Nora called him something earlier…-Enny something…? Jenny? Lenny? Pen-No that's not it…'_

Honestly, he knew he should be more concerned with the threat in front of him, he really did! But, the lack of actual malice in the boy's stance left him more curious about the boy's apparent anger than anything else, so he saw no harm in watching to see how things played out.

It wasn't like he didn't have a minute to spare.

Patience evidently at an end, the older boy's glare seemed to intensify as he spoke

"Well?"

Naruto met his glare with the raise of an eyebrow, "Well, what?"

The nonchalance of his words seemed to anger the lotus-themed boy further for a moment, before he seemed to forcibly school his features as he replied in a chillingly cold tone "Apologize. Now."

"Um" the whiskered boy blinked in confusion "For what?"

Apparently, this was the wrong thing to say.

Eyes flashing in anger, the boy raised one of his weapons, prompting Naruto to grip one of his blades as he stared down its barrel before locking eyes with the still glaring boy.

"The insult you issued against my partner earlier." The magenta-eyed boy replied, icy tone still in place.

Naruto's eyes narrowed, as he thought over the boy's response. He had insulted Nora? When? More importantly, how?

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean" He said carefully after a moment, still wary of the knife-tipped gun aimed toward him "I wasn't aware I had insulted her; I can assure you it wasn't my intention to do so."

The older boy's own eyes narrowed for a moment, wary of any hint of deception, before sighing as he noticed none, lowering his weapon, eyes closed in thought before turning to look at the young Faunus.

"If that is indeed the case, I apologize; It would appear I … overreacted."

Noticing the tension of the moment had passed, Naruto released a slight sigh of relief before waving the older boy's concern off.

"No problem, stuff happens."

They stood there in an awkward silence for a moment, one in confusion, the other in embarrassment, until a loud 'Crash!' in the distance pulled them both from their respective musings.

The lotus-themed boy's eyes widened for a moment, remembering why he had been rushing through the forest in the first place before sprinting off in the direction the crash came from, throwing a hurried apology over his shoulder as he went.

Naruto watched him go, confusion clear on his face as the boy slowly disappeared into the distance.

He blinked at the sight "…The hell?"

He just stood there for a moment, trying and failing to rationalize any of the insanity he'd just witnessed in his mind, before pushing the topic to the side in favor of more pressing matters; Finding the landmark, passing the test, stuff like that.

Now if only he could find out where the hell he was going.

Trying to gather his thoughts, he cast a glance down the path the magenta eyed boy from earlier had taken, which just so happened to be the same path Nora had taken as she tore through the area.

It was with this thought in mind that something occurred to him; a lesson ingrained into him by two lifetimes full of near constant insanity:

When in doubt, follow the chaos!

With this in mind, he set a determined look upon his face before rushing off in pursuit of the odd pair he had come across, spurred on by one thought.

' _Heck, least it'll be fun!'_

0

"Think it's in here?" Jaune asked, sparking a torch as he and Pyrrha stood outside the mouth of a cave.

Pyrrha looked into the dark crevice warily "Ehhh…" she trailed off uncertainly, not wanting to insult him by outright shooting down one of his ideas

Jaune sent her a small smile "Yeah, me neither. Still, better safe than sorry." With that, he took his first few steps into the cave, silently praying to Oum that he wouldn't regret it as Pyrrha followed his lead.

They walked in silence for a few moments, both wary of waking anything that may have called the cave home

"…I don't think the relics are in here." Pyrrha said after a moment, warily eyeing her surroundings as she followed the armored young man deeper into depths of the cave.

The young knight sighed "Yeah, your probably right." He said morosely, running a hand through his hair "Still, might as well see it through to the end now that we're in here; can't hurt, and you never know what you might find around here, right?"

Pyrrha smiled softly at the boy's word's, nodding as she decided to humor him. It couldn't hurt to go a little further. Honestly, what was the worst thing that could happen?

Jaune blinked for a second, having suddenly gotten the urge to face palm at his partner as if she had said something foolish, settling for allowing his eye to twitch as a cold shiver ran down his spine.

The heck was that about?

Luckily for him (or unluckily as the case may be) he didn't have to focus on the issue long, as not but a few seconds after the armored boy found himself crashing to the ground, torch leaping from his grip, planting and extinguishing itself in a puddle as he stumbled over a pile of rocks that had escaped his notice.

The universe was just _that_ messed sometimes.

Pyrrha made to help the now grumbling boy up, before a sudden tension in the air caused her to pause in her actions.

She refocused upon the now darkened depths of the cave, eyes narrowed.

"Do you…feel that?"

Lacking the same ear for danger that his partner possessed, the young knight thought she was commenting about his impromptu relation with the ground and so sought to save face with his usual means of defense:

Self-deprecating humor.

"Soul-crushing regret?" he asked with a bit of forced amusement in his tone, standing and dusting himself off "Oh yeah, for years now."

"No…" Pyrrha replied distractedly, missing his tone as her instincts began to sound off "it's… _warm_."

Jaune shot her a look of confusion, unconsciously continuing forward as the older girl followed behind him warily "Warm?"

He frowned in thought as she nodded, tightening her grip on the spear-turned sword she held on her back.

He was about to comment further when a distinct golden glow in the corner of his eye.

"…What is that?"

Turning her head to where he'd shifted his attention, the young Spartan took note of an ovular, slightly glowing point of gold, illuminating the young knight's curious features.

The redhead's eyes narrowed as she focused on the luminescent item, watching as it floated in mid-air, seemingly of its own accord.

"I'm…Not sure."

Jaune hummed for a moment at that, before nodding to himself.

"Well, then" he said clapping his hands before rubbing them together "Only one way to find out!"

He made a grab for the still floating bit of gold, only for it to listlessly bob its way out of reach as his hands approached.

"Hey, hold still!" he tried again with similar results "Why you little…!" He leapt forward slightly, gripping ahold of the object with both hands "Gotcha!"

The young knight allowed himself a small smile of triumph at his efforts, already planting his feet to make an attempt at pulling the strange object down to eye level for examination.

Or, at least, he would have…

It seemed the object itself had other plans, raising itself higher and bringing the young man clutching onto it along for the ride, letting him to dangle in the air.

Pyrrha watched his ascent with growing concern.

"Jaune…?" she asked worriedly.

The young knights catch lowered ever so slightly before halting, leaving him staring into angrily glowing red lines and eyes of a ginormous Scorpion-Grimm; A Death-Stalker.

Faced with the sight before him, the boy's mind seemed to short circuit for a moment, staving off any sense of fear or panic just long enough for a single thought to flit through his mind.

'… _Hm, I appear to have made_ _ **all**_ _of the wrong decisions.'_

As if reading his thoughts as some sort of signal, the Beast let out a blood-curdling roar before charging forward, snapping the young Spartan, who had been watching the whole ordeal in shock, out of her stupor as she began to run.

It didn't take long for their encounter to shift areas, the creature bursting through the caves walls in its pursuit of the young red-haired girl as her blonde partner remained clinging to the golden object, now revealed to be the creature's oversized stinger.

"PYRRHA!" he yelled as he was swung around wildly "A LITTLE HE-E-E-ELP!"

Pyrrha watched his dilemma with growing concern, blade in hand, desperately trying to think of a way to help her partner without hurting him, highly doubting that she could catch his hood with her spear to get him down if the creature kept shaking him.

"Jaune!" she called out, trying to give him some form of comfort in the meantime "Whatever you do don't let-!" She was cut off as the grimm, evidently growing annoyed with the screaming boy latching on to one of its main weapons, lurched its tail back suddenly, forcing the young knight to lose his grip and go flying over the horizon, screaming the entire way.

"…go." The young Spartan finished in dismay, tracking his descent with her eyes until he was out of sight, before shifting her gaze back to the still agitated Death-Stalker, the creature angrily snapping its grass-encrusted pincers as it slowly approached.

She shot it a sheepish, almost embarrassed smile, before bolting off into the forest after her partner, kicking up a mess of green leaves in her wake.

A world-class fighter she may have been, but trying to take on a Death-Stalker single handedly in her first year?

Excuse her French but: Oh F**K no!

Of course, the creature itself didn't take to well to her sudden retreat, quickly giving chase to its prey, all the while both had pushed the blonde boy that had instigated their meeting to the back of their minds.

0

' _Why do I get the feeling something weirds about to happen?'_ Naruto thought, leaping through the trees as he followed the same path Nora and her partner had crashed their way down earlier.

Seriously, what _was_ that guy's name?

Pushing the (at the moment) inconsequential question to the back of his mind, he instead focused on his destination, his method of travel having long since allowed him to overtake the duo he had set after in the first place.

Best to always let who/whatever you were tracking come to you, after all.

It was with this goal in mind that he burst out of the forest, his momentum carrying him a fair distance to land in-between an as of yet unaware Yang and Blake, the former focused upon a patch of forest in front of her while the latter stared intently up at the sky.

Noticing this, a smile grew across the young Faunus's face as he approached the black-themed girl.

"Whatcha looking at?" He asked conversationally as he reached her, throwing her out of her thoughts in surprise. Looking at who had spoken, she quickly schooled her features in the presence of his teasing grin, a small smile making its way across her face as she simply pointed skyward.

"Blake, did you hear that?" Yang called over her shoulder, still unaware of the third entrant into their party, much to said boy's amusement "What should we do?"

Before the stoic girl could respond or the whiskered boy could make his presence known, they were both cut-off by a loud exclamation of:

"HEADS UUUUUUUUUP!" From above them, gaining the threes attention, the blonde girls eyes barely registering the boy who had suddenly found his way amongst them as they all raised their eyes upwards, before collectively widening them in surprise.

Plummeting towards them, seemingly out of nowhere, was Ruby. The younger girl's arms were flailing wildly as she desperately sought a way to fight off the effects of gravity, the three she had called out to watching her descent with reactions ranging anywhere from mild bemusement to outright shock.

Naruto found himself part of the former category, slowly blinking before absentmindedly raising his arms at her approach, prepared to catch her bridal-style if need be.

A nice thought, but, as it turned out, vastly unneeded.

Just as she would have landed in his embrace, the still screaming form of Jaune crashed into her at _just_ the right angle to knock them both off course, the two now tangled bodies impacting in a tree off to the side a few seconds later.

Naruto couldn't help another owlish blink as he turned to the sight, nodding to himself before shifting his gaze to his still out stretched arms, slowly raising them into the air.

"It's Good!"

Blake shot him a dry look as Yang chuckled at the action.

"…Really?"

He gave her an amused shrug "Had to be done."

The black themed girl held the look for another moment, before allowing her face to split with a small smile "Fair enough."

0

Oblivious to the conversation or joke made at her expense, Ruby, having lowered herself so she was sitting on a branch, was rubbing her head in a daze, trying to shake away the stars and mini-Beowolves she _swore_ were circling her head.

"Ugggh…What even _was_ that?"

A cough to her side drew attention, as she looked over to see the dangling form of Jaune, chuckling and waving nervously as he gave her a sheepish smile.

"Hey, Ruby…"

"Hey, Jaune." She said chuckling lightly and shaking her head at the sight

' _Guess that answers that.'_ She thought in amusement as she moved to help him down.

0

Back on the ground and shifting her gaze to her partner, Blake raised an eyebrow in question.

"Yang, did your sister just fall from the sky?"

The blonde girl shifted slightly.

"I…"

Before she could continue, a sudden crash from the forest drew their attention, just as a gigantic Ursa burst out of the trees, its claws flailing wildly as the majority of those who spotted it recoiled in shock.

… _Strike one_

Naruto just nodded to himself.

"Heh, was wondering when she'd show up."

The others shot him confused looks, about to ask what he meant, before another cry from the Grimm drew their attention back to it, just in time to see the creature keel over completely as a petite orange haired girl in a pink skirt rolled off of it.

"YEEEE-HAAAAAW!" she exclaimed happily, before slumping slightly with a saddened groan as she saw the state of her steed "Awww…it's broken."

"Real shame that." Naruto consoled honestly, getting the hyper girl's attention as she looked the creature's carcass over.

A wide grin split her face as she spotted him, dead Grimm forgotten as she zipped over with a surprising level of speed.

"Whiskers!"

"Good to see you to, Sparky." He said with a teasing close-eyed smile, remembering the lightning bolt symbol on her pajamas, not noticing the slight blush that colored the girls face at the nickname.

Before he could, their small reunion was halted by the sound of heavy panting. Looking over in curiosity, he spotted the lotus-themed boy from earlier, hunched over with a hand on the corpse of Nora's Grimm to support himself.

"Nora…" he dragged out between breaths "Please… Don't ever do that again."

Finally getting his breathing back in check, he looked up only to see that the girl had disappeared, blinking to shake away the last of his fatigue as he could have _sworn_ he saw a pink dotted outline of where she had been.

Seeing the boy frantically begin whipping his head back and forth in search of his excitable, Naruto coughed into his hand to get his attention, before pointing at the ruins.

"She's over there dude."

Nora, with the distraction Ren's appearance had provided, had quickly noticed the unexplored area the ruins had provided, zipping over to take in the sight of several large chess pieces, an oversized and light-golden Rook piece gaining her attention the most.

Without a second thought, she'd snatched the piece from its pedestal, merrily dancing around and playing with it without a care in the world as she sang.

"~I'm Queen of Castle! I'm Queen of the Castle! ~"

Naruto and, though he wasn't aware of it, Ren, couldn't help the soft smiles that spread across their faces at the sight; The girl's innocence was just too damn cute. Sure, there were a lot of cute girls in the area, but that? That was damn near Kawaii!

Unfortunately, now was not the time or place.

"NORA!" Ren barked out sternly, but not harshly, snapping the hyper girl from her actions with the sound as she suddenly stopped, shooting her best friend a playful salute before making her way back to his side with a bubbly chirp of "~Coming Ren~!"

Naruto, having initially frowned at the interaction, waved it off as a testament to their relationship before making his way towards the ruins the girl had just left behind. After seeing the relic she had chosen, he thought it best to grab one as quickly as possible before any other forms of insanity decided to make themselves known in the area.

Shoot, he probably just jinxed something, didn't he?

' _Heh'_ he thought dismissively, before raising a brow in thought _'So his name's…Ren, then?_ ' He nodded to himself as he mulled the name over. He probably wouldn't have any trouble remembering it now that he knew.

' _Suits him.'_ He thought, shrugging the matter off as he stood amidst all of the chess-shaped relics, looking them over for a moment before deciding on an oversized black King piece.

' _A King amongst Queens_ ' he mused to himself lightly, eyes scanning the medley of girls that were his fellow classmates as they mulled about the area, before blinking.

' _Whoa…When the heck did I get poetic?'_

He chuckled a little at the thought as he made his way back over to the group, just in time to see Blake turn to Yang, another question playing across her lips.

"Did that girl just… Ride in on an Ursa?" She asked in growing disbelief, her brain having just rebooted from the surreal insanity of the sight.

Yang looked back at her with an equal air of disbelief, blinking as she tried to think of how to respond.

"I…"

She was cut-off by an ear-splittingly loud screech of rage, as not a second later Pyrrha burst through the trees in a mad dash, the grass-covered Death-Stalker from earlier right on her tail, uprooting whole trees in its pursuit of her, as she furiously dodged its claws in her attempts at escape.

… _Strike Two_

Naruto whistled at the sight "Persistent bugger ain't he?" he asked no one in particular, just as Jaune and Ruby managed to finally make their way out of the tree and back to the ground.

Pyrrha couldn't help the feeling of relief at the sight of her wayward partner, even as she continued to dodge for her life.

"Jaune!" she called out, getting his attention.

"Pyrrha" he yelled back in concern for her predicament.

Spotting her sister, Ruby began rushing forward, a smile on her face as she let loose with a happy cry.

"Yang!"

Yang spread her arms at the cry, ready to embrace the younger girl.

"Ruby!"

Nora popped up in the middle of the two sisters just as they were about to meet, cutting off their reunion.

"Nora!" she cried out happily.

Noticing what was going on, Naruto spread out his arms before adding his own voice to the mix.

"Naruto!" he called out in amusement.

All of the others seemed to pause for a moment, save for the still dodging Pyrrha, as they all turned to shift their eyes to him at once, before Blake saw fit to speak for all of them.

"…Really?... Again?" she deadpanned.

The boy shrugged "Seemed like fun."

Nora's grin grew wider at his reasoning "Aw, yeah! Whiskers gets it!" she said happily, raising a fist which he quickly sped over to bump, both grinning at one another, before turning their smiles to the others at the same time.

The others just blinked in disbelief, while Ren began rubbing the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed to stave off his mounting headache.

' _Jeez, no wonder Nora took to him so fast.'_ He groaned inwardly remembering his earlier observation _'He's like a male her version of her…'_

His eyes suddenly snapped open at that off-hand realization, as its meaning fully sunk in.

' _Dear Oum'_ he thought in a mixture of shock and mounting horror _'There's_ _ **two**_ _of them now.'_

He loved his best friend to death but… _two_ of them?

He suddenly felt the need to hold back a sob.

Shaking her disbelief off first (She was getting used to it by now), Blake again turned to Yang as another question occurred to her.

"Did she just…Run all the way here…with a Death Stalker on her tail?"

… _Strike Three_

"AHHHH!" Yang finally exploded with a mixture of a growl and a scream, bursting into flames as her eyes flashed red with rage "I can't take it anymore! Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something else _crazy_ happens again?!"

Everything around them seemed to go still for a moment, as if allowing the enraged girl the two seconds she requested, during which Naruto could have sworn he heard a clock ticking as he watched Ren make his way to a ditzy Nora's side, while Jaune took a place at the young Faunus's side as Ruby and Blake shifted their gazes upward.

"Um…Yang?" the young red themed girl asked, tugging on her sister's sleeve, still wary of incurring the older girl's wrath, gaining her attention as the Blonde Bombshell followed her gaze.

Looking up, the entire group of was met with sight of Weiss, clinging to the talon of a giant Nevermore as it circled high above them.

"HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME?!" she called down in equal measures of annoyance and fear as she spotted her scythe wielding partner on the ground.

"I TOLD YOU TO "JUMP"!" Ruby called back, honestly not seeing the problem.

Naruto did his best to stifle a laugh at the whole situation; He was enjoying this _far_ more than he should.

Eyes still locked on the girl hanging on to the Grimm for dear life, Blake seemed to pause for a minute, before airing her observations.

"She's gonna fall." She stated simply.

"Definitely." Jaune added his own two cents.

"She'll be fine." Ruby waved off their concern.

"Annnnd, she's falling." Ren deadpanned.

"Yep" Naruto nodded "I got her."

With no further explanation, he turned to the left before breaking into a mad dash, aiming at a relatively tall tree. Without missing a beat, he leaped at it, using his momentum to ricochet off of it and launch himself skyward just in time to catch the falling form of the Schnee heiress bridal style, shifting his feet downward before gravity carried the two of them down to the ground, the young Faunus's aura-laced legs absorbing the brunt of the impact in a crouch as he cradled the young girl in his arms with his back to the rest of the group.

The others watched this with varying levels of astonishment, ranging from mild and restrained looks of surprise (Blake/Ren) to slack-jawed shock (Jaune).

Ruby, however, only sported a smug grin with her arms crossed over her chest, as she turned to her still shell-shocked sister.

"Told you he was a superhero."

0

"You can open your eyes now, Snow." Naruto said, a soft smile on his face as amusement colored his voice and he rose to his feet.

Weiss blushed deeply at his words, both from the tone and the intimacy of her position.

"R-Right" She said quietly, still shaken by the experience as she slowly opened her eyes, inwardly cursing the hitch in her voice. She may have been prepared to fight for her life, but the sudden loss of control the fall had caused her had left the white-themed girl far more rattled then she would have liked to admit. As such, it took her a moment to recognize just who she was talking to.

Once she did, her eyes quickly narrowed as a rush of anger coursed its way through her system.

"You!" She hissed out in anger.

' _And, there it is_.' He thought, soft smile shifting into a teasing one as he decided how to respond to the girl's annoyance.

"Yep, me. You looked like you could use a little help."

She did her best to glare, her icy blue's staring into his oceanic pools, the anger upon her face frightening enough to quell any being that dared cross her path. All in all, it was a very intimidating gaze…

Or, at least, it would have been.

Unfortunately for the young heiress, the effect was almost completely ruined by the red still staining her cheeks from earlier. Instead of conveying the sense of murderous rage she had probably intended, it instead conveyed the image of a mildly agitated and pouting toddler.

Naruto, despite himself, couldn't help but find the whole image downright adorable.

Of course, then she had to go and talk.

"I could have handled it." She growled out angrily, evidently trying to place all of her aggravation into her words once she saw what little affect her glare had on the still smirking boy.

It wasn't very effective; The crossed arms and way she shifted her gaze away from him did nothing to take away from his observations from earlier.

"Sure you did, the flailing arms really sold it. "he said sarcastically, looking down at her from where she still sat in his arms as he turned to face the others, teasing smile still directed down at her "Come on, what do you say?"

"I had everything under control!" she said stubbornly, annoyance growing as she saw his still present smile "I didn't need the help of some no-good ruffian Faunus!"

She froze after she said that last bit.

She felt the muscles in the arms that held her tense slightly at her words, and looking up at his face, she saw the teasing smirk having been replaced by an all too forced smile that did nothing to set her at ease.

It was then that she became aware of just how vulnerable she was at the moment; how badly he could hurt her in her current position, and she couldn't help but shiver slightly at the thought.

Luckily for her and her composure, the moment passed swiftly, as she felt his arms relax, though the forced smile remained.

Not even half a second later she felt a brief rush of air, before landing with a hard impact upon the ground below, eyes wide in shock.

He'd dropped her!

This time he didn't even meet her eyes as she sent a glare up his way, instead simply stepping over her still outstretched legs without even a backwards glance as he made his way to back to the rest of the group.

She watched him go, the only other move he made being to raise a hand, not even bothering to turn and look at her as he called over his shoulder.

"Your welcome princess."

Before leaving the still shocked girl to her thoughts on the ground as he went to speak to the rest of his friends.

0

The others, who had been watching the interaction from a distance, blinked in surprise at his abrupt action and approach, before collectively turning to look at him in curiosity once he'd reached them.

Noticing their silence and the way their eyes followed him, Naruto tilted his head slightly in confusion.

"…What? Is there something on my face?"

Annnnd, cue the dam breaking.

Of course, Nora was the first to act, zipping over so quickly he didn't even see her move before she was in front of him, eyes shining to the point that he could have sworn they'd actually turned into stars.

"That was awesome!" She exclaimed, practically bouncing up and down in excitement "You were all like*shoom*, *whoosh, * boom*!

At this she started motioning wildly with her hands and adding sound effects, only serving to confuse the young Faunus further as he shot a look to the boy who was effectively his best friend.

"Jay, dude, what's she talking about?"

"What's she talking about?!" Yang asked incredulously, cutting her fellow blonde off before he could respond "Your whole jungle-man parkour act, that's what!"

Seeing the younger boy's confusion grow at the girl's words, Ren finally took pity on him.

"Your reaction to the girl's fall." He informed him helpfully, effectively translating for the young Faunus.

A look of dawning spread across his face at the stoic boy's explanation, before again settling into a look of bewilderment as he began to wave off their reactions.

"What? The jump? That's nothing. I mean, thank s for the props, but I saw most of you guys do cooler stuff than that on your way into the forest."

"That's with our weapons though." Blake pointed out simply, getting nods of agreement from the several of the others "All you used was your aura; That takes skill."

He shrugged "Not really, I just kinda… Acted, nothing special."

"Wait a second, you _did_ know you could do that, right?" Jaune asked uncertainly.

"Eh, kinda?" the whiskered blonde replied uncertainly "I mean I've leapt off of trees like that before, but I've never really went for that kind of distance."

"Wait, then how did you know you'd make it?"

"I didn't." Naruto answered the older boy honestly, getting shocked looks from the others.

Noticing the question hanging in the air, he simply shrugged again "I felt like I could do it, so I did."

"Wha-?"

"Dude, it's not that difficult." Naruto said, honestly not understanding the young knight's confusion" Rule one of life: Always trust your instincts; My gut told me I could make it, so I tried and everything worked out. Simple."

The others all grew silent at that, mulling over the boy's answer, as Jaune absorbed this latest lesson.

It may have felt odd taking combat advice from a guy a year or so younger then him, but honestly? Naruto was the closest thing he'd ever seen to a certified badass (except for _maybe_ Pyrrha); he was bound to have some decent advice on stuff like this, and his survival might hinge on it.

Speaking of survival…

"Now then." Naruto said, clapping his hands together, breaking the silence and drawing their eyes to him "Not that I don't enjoy being praised for my feats of badassery, but, and I could be wrong here, Red looks like she could use a little bit of help."

He jabbed a thumb towards the still dodging Pyrrha, prompting the others to look towards her as he did the same.

"Just saying."

Luckily enough, just as he finished mentioning the girl's predicament, the young Spartan managed to roll her way out of the creature's grasp and into their group, picking herself back-up at the same moment that Weiss made her way back to them.

"Oh great!" Yang huffed sarcastically, her previous annoyance returning in full-force now that her surprise had worn off "The gang's all here! Now we can all die _together!_ "

' _Okay wow_.' Naruto thought, mildly surprised ' _She gets_ _ **bleak**_ _when she's pissed off_.'

A determined look spread across Ruby's face at her sister's words, as she hefted Crescent Rose on to her shoulder as she turned her eyes to the Death Stalker.

"Not if I can help it!"

She sounded a battle cry, rushing after the creature in a mad dash.

"Ruby wait!" Yang called out in concern, unprepared for the younger girl's recklessness.

But it was too late; Still screaming, the rose-themed girl fired off her weapon, the momentum of the shot boosting her speed as she charged at the scorpion-like creature, blade pulled back to deal out a life-ending slash…

Only for the Grimm to smack her small form aside with a single wipe of its claw, something in its primitive consciousness drawing on its innate reflexes to fend off the admittedly choreographed attack.

Ruby rose to her feet slowly, still dazed from sudden strike.

"D-Do-Don't worry!" She called out blearily "Totally fine."

Everyone watching could tell she was bluffing.

Protective instincts overruling all other thoughts, Yang began rushing towards her younger sister just as the smaller girl fired off into the Beast's skull to cover her escape as she sheathed her weapon, the scorpion creature's attention now fully focused on her tinier frame.

"Ruby!" the older girl called out, gaining the younger one's attention as they made towards each other, evidently with the intention of regrouping.

Unfortunately for the two sisters, the Nevermore that had been circling above, evidently sensing its Grimm's opportunity, rang out with a glass shattering caw, before flexing its wings, sending down rows upon rows of man-sized razor-sharp quills, pinning the two down as Yang was caught up amongst a group of them and Ruby felt her cloak hitch on the end of another as it impaled itself in the ground.

"Ruby, get out of there!" The blonde yelled, struggling to free herself from amongst the quills as she saw the Death Stalker approach the still mostly stationary form of her younger sister.

"I'm trying!" The girl called back, struggling with the ends of her cloak as she felt more than saw the creature's advance.

"Shit!" Naruto cursed, beginning to rush towards her as he unsheathed a blade, cursing himself for not acting sooner, knowing he might not make it in time.

A sudden acute sense of fear overtook the young girl as she subconsciously released the ends of her cloak, turning slowly to meet the face of the Death Stalker just as it reared back its golden stinger.

"Ruby!" Yang called out arm out stretched, just as a white blur blazed past her.

Seeing the attack coming, Ruby closed her eyes in preparation, just as Yang averted her own, both unable to bare watching the sight of the inevitable as the stinger surged forward…

 ***Crunch** *

0

Yang cringed as she heard the sound but didn't raise her head, unable to meet the sight; To confirm what she feared had actually happened.

Slowly, she felt the oversized quills removed from where they'd pinned her to the ground, allowing her to regain her full range of movement.

'For all the good it does me _now._ ' She thought bitterly, fighting back tears just as she felt a hand rest on her shoulder.

"It's okay Firecracker."

Her head whipped around so fast at the nickname that it was a surprise she didn't get whiplash, honestly shocked at how familiar the masculine tone that addressed her had been.

Off-balance as she was, she half-expected to see her Uncle Qrow standing behind her.

Instead, when her gaze shifted upwards, she was met with the face of one Naruto Uzumaki with his left hand on her shoulder, his right holding the three or four quills he had plucked out of the ground to free her on his shoulders, his previously drawn blade re-sheathed on his shoulder.

He shot her a reassuring smile, before nodding toward the scene before her.

"Check it out."

She hesitated for a moment, wary of what she might see, but she chose to trust his words, having seen enough of his relationship with her sister to at least owe him that much.

Shifting her eyes to the area before her, her eyes widened in shock as she spotted the Death Stalkers stinger, encased in a barrier of ice produced from Weiss's rapier, shielding her as well as the still downed form of…

"Ruby!" She breathed out, relief washing over her in waves as she realized just what, or rather who that white blur had been.

Naruto smiled softly, glad the older girls mind had been set at ease before she had fallen too far in to grief, before shifting his focus back to the white-themed girl, unable to help subtle hint of respect that slid into his gaze as he watched her refine her impromptu ice wall.

It would seem he had…misjudged her, if only slightly.

He'd had her pegged as nothing more than a spoiled, self-centered, slightly bigoted diva who had only enrolled to raise her social standing.

Which, and let's be honest here, was fair. It wasn't like she'd done anything to change his mind.

But, on the other hand, she _had_ saved Ruby, so…she wat least, _decent_.

They'd probably never be outright friends, at least as far as he could tell, but, she had gone out of her way to save one of her comrades from a fatal blow, and he could respect that.

'Least she's not a total bi- _witc_ h" he thought with a hint of satisfaction, having to mentally force a bit if censorship 'I guess I can cut her some slack for that.'

He gave a slight chuckle as he saw the white-themed girl shift her attention from the wall of ice to her partner, looking more annoyed than anything else, just as Yang, having finally gotten over her relief induced shock, began rushing towards them.

' _That'll do Snow; That'll do.'_

0

"You are _so_ childish."

These were the first words to reach Ruby's ears as she blinked open her eyes, lowering her arms from over her head to see the form of her partner staring down at her with an annoyed scowl on her face.

"…Weiss?" she asked in confusion, the older girl's anger sailing over her head as she processed the fact that she wasn't, you know, skewered on a Death Stalker's stinger.

" _And_ dim-witted" the Schnee heiress continued, undeterred by the younger girl's confusion as she pulled Myrtenaster from the ice " _and_ hyperactive, and don't even get me started on your fighting style. And I suppose I can be a bit… _difficult,_ but if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together. So, if _you_ quit trying to show off, I'll be… _nicer._

"I'm not trying to show off." Ruby said after pausing a moment to let the older girl's words to sink in "I want you to know I can do this."

Weiss gave her a second glance, during which the rose-themed girl could have sworn she saw a slight smile trying to tug its way onto the older girl's face, before responding.

"You're fine." She assured calmly, before walking off to plan her next move.

The younger girl watched her go for a moment before taking a breath of relief, clasping her hands and closing her eyes with a grateful whisper.

"Normal knees…"

That done, she began climbing to her feet, only now spotting the form of the Death Stalker, her jaw nearly dropping as she saw its tail surrounded and entrapped by a wall of ice as the creature itself struggled to escape.

"Woah!" she couldn't help but breathe.

That was amazing!

Before she could dwell on the sight any longer, her attention was stolen by a blonde-haired missile barreling into her, the impact nearly knocking her back to the ground.

Instead, she managed to stay upright, only letting out a groan at what she now recognized as one of her sister's bear hugs.

"I'm _so_ happy you're okay!" The older girl exclaimed happily, before her look turned stern "Don't you ever…!"

"Um, Yang?" Ruby asked hesitantly, cutting her sister off mid-scold as she shifted her gaze upwards, prompting the older girl to do the same, as they both spotted the Nevermore from earlier, still flying overhead and roaring.

"…We'll talk about this later." Yang said after a moment, releasing her sister to as they rejoined the rest of the group.

"Guys?" A mildly panicked Jaune started once they'd all regrouped "That thing's circling back! What are we gonna do?"

"Look, there's no sense in dilly-dallying." Weiss said after a moment of thought "Our objective is right in front of us."

She gestured towards the relics, prompting the others to nod in understanding.

Naruto was doing his best to remain straight faced at the older girl's phrasing. Monsters surrounding them, potentially vying for their blood as they sought to complete a dangerous mission, and she used the phrase "dill-dally."

' _I'm sorry, but that is hilarious.'_ He thought, stifling a chuckle.

"She's right." Ruby agreed seriously, oblivious to young Faunus' thoughts "Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the Cliffs." She nodded at her partner "There's no point in fighting these things".

"Run and live – I like this plan!" Jaune agreed whole-heartedly, as those without artifacts all quickly made their way over to the dilapidated temple.

Ruby snatched up a gold knight at the same time Jaune took hold of a gold rook, smiling at each other as their partners mirrored their actions, just as the Death Stalker managed to slightly crack the ice surrounding its tail with its continued struggles.

"Oooh." Naruto breathed after a moment, drawing one of his blades with a click of his tongue as he and the others noticed its action "That's not good."

"Definitely not." Jaune added.

"Time we left!" Ren finished.

"Right." Ruby agreed, waving at the others "Let's go!" she called, rushing forward as the other followed, save for a smiling Yang and curious Blake as the latter approached s her partner with a questioning look.

"What is it?"

Yang took a moment to answer, smiling proudly as she watched her sister leap a boulder and motion the group forward, before shaking her head in bemusement.

"Nothing..."

Before the black themed girl could question her further,the Blonde bombshell, leaving her partner behind just as she smiled in realization, following after the more excitable girl a moment later.

0

The group of teens all burst out of the forest at once, the Nevermore following their every move from the air, watching as they sought cover after it past overhead, their smaller forms crouching behind amongst the new medley of ruined pillars that now surrounded them.

Unable to reach its prey, the Nevermore made the decision to allow them to come to it, perching on one of the taller pillars overlooking all of their hiding places, letting loose yet another glass-shattering 'caw' as it waited for them to make the next move.

"Oh, _that's_ great!" Yang said in annoyance as she saw it new position.

Just as she spoke, the Death Stalker from earlier burst out of the forest after them in angered pursuit.

"And that's just _perfect_!" Jaune said just as annoyed before turning to the others " _Run!_ "

The group obliged, springing from there hiding spots and surging forward, the Nevermore rising from its perch to meet them in rapid pursuit.

"Nora!" Ren called as he and the others noticed the sky beast's approach "Distract it!"

The girl happily obliged, a practically feral grin on her face, leaping and dodging the quills the Nevermore rained down upon her as she unfurled her weapon, Magnhild, from her back, before returning fire in spades, using its grenade- launching form to send out a barrage of pink tinted rockets, most of them exploding on or near enough to the giant creature to throw off its attacking form.

Enraptured as she was with the beauty that is explosions, the orange haired girl failed to notice the Death Stalker's approach before it was too late to counterattack.

Lucky for her, she wasn't the only one to have noticed.

Seeing its approach, Naruto and Ren both began rushing forward, unknowingly sharing the same thought:

' _Oh,_ _ **Hell**_ _no!'_

Leaping forward as they descended from opposite sides into an X-shaped slash, pushing the creature back long enough for Weiss to appear next to Nora and use one of her glyphs to get them both out of harm's way, the two boys following shortly after, a silent nod of respect the only communication passing between them.

"Go, go!" Pyrrha yelled as they all reached bridge, she, and seconds later, Ren providing cover fire for the others as they all crossed, Blake lingering behind to provide them with some close quarters support.

Not even a second after they had passed the midway point of the bridge, the Nevermore made another attempt on their lives crashing through the center of the bridge, destroying it and separating the bulk of the group from the three still facing the Death Stalker, the Sky Beast's massive form passing so close that Naruto could have sworn he felt its wings brush slightly against the tip of his outstretched tail.

Tying it back around his waist, the young Faunus turned his attention back to his comrades across the now seemingly bottomless gap in the bridge, Jaune and Nora joining him a second later, Ruby, Yang and Weiss having moved on to attacking the Nevermore, keeping its attention of the three now unmoving teens.

Jaune winced as he saw Blake's medley of slash fueled whips bashed aside as the girl herself was sent to the ground.

"Man, we gotta get over there! They need help!" he exclaimed, fists clenching in frustration as he noticed the strain his red-haired partner was being put under.

"Let's do this!" Nora agreed readily, noticing the same tension on Ren's face.

"Yeah, but I can't make that jump." Jaune informed, looking down into the mist-filled drop before shifting his eyes elsewhere for another means of crossing.

He didn't notice the nearly manic grin that crossed Nora's face as an idea sprang to her mind.

Before he could react, the small orange haired girl swung out her arm, ramming the broad side of her weapon into his armored chest and knocking him backwards as she shifted it to its close-quarters form, namely, a War Hammer.

She paused for only a moment, just long enough to shoot the surprised Fox Faunus who stood behind her a curious glance over her shoulder.

His confusion only lasted a second, quickly shifting into a dawning look of realization before he grew a manic grin of his own.

Locking eyes with the petite girl, he gave a determined nod before speaking only two words:

"Do it."

That was apparently all the encouragement the girl needed, her grin going from manic to downright diabolical as she leapt to the edge of the bridge, Magnhild already pulled back for a swing.

"Wait, do whAT?" A thoroughly confused Jaune asked, voice rising near the end as Nora slammed the hammer into the bridge sending both he and Naruto flying forward, the whiskered blonde letting loose a loud 'whoop' of excitement while the young knight could only pray not to end up a splatter on the rapidly approaching stone.

Heedless of anything running through the two boys' minds, Nora quickly placed a one foot on the head of her hammer, quickly firing off an explosive round to launch herself off a piece of the still descending rubble as she followed their descent.

Landing first, Jaune crashed into the stone platform with a grunt, slowly rising to his feet as he thanked Oum for his survival (something he'd been doing a lot lately, he'd noticed).

Only a second later, Naruto made his arrival, switching his blade to its gun form as he landed in a roll, coming up on one knee already firing off shots from the gray-tinted hand-cannon, growling as all they did was dent the creature's skull-like mask.

"Damn it!" he cursed, still firing "The hell does it take to get through that armor?'

Apparently, the universe had deigned to answer his question, as at that moment, Nora arrived.

The momentum of her earlier shot boosting her speed, the energetic girl sped onto the scene as little more than a blur before slamming her hammer into the Scorpion's skull with all of the force behind her flight, leaving a deep crack as the disoriented creature angrily raised its stinger for a counterattack.

Noticing this, the Child of Thunder smirked as she fired off another pink-tinted explosive round, further damaging the Beast as she launched herself out of harm's way.

Unfortunately, that same maneuver sent her directly into a recovering Blake, knocking the black-themed girl off the bridge as the hammer wielder fought for stability.

Seeing the girl fall, Naruto allowed his instincts to take over as he leapt off the bridge after her, a smirk pulling its way onto his lips as he saw her throw her whip-like weapon in an attempt to save herself.

Oh yeah, he could use this.

Switching his gun back to its blade form, he quickly clicked a button on its hilt with his right hand, splitting it into a medley of smaller segmented chain-linked blades, before lashing out, piercing an overhanging fragment of the bridge as he caught the underside of her weapon with his left hand, swinging the both of them skyward towards the form of the Nevermore hanging overhead.

Blake, though surprised at first, quickly took his action in stride as he launched the two of them onto the sky Grimm's back. Never missing a beat, the two began running down the length of it, both slashing at it the whole way before leaping down onto the ruined platform to join Ruby, Yang and Weiss.

"Damn it!" the boy cursed when he'd seen that their attack had no effect.

"It's tougher than it looks." Blake affirmed as they joined the others.

Yang growled at that, glaring up at the creature, cocking her shotgun gauntlets as it hung in the air some distance away.

"Then let's give it everything we've got!"

As one the five teens all turned in a line to face the now rapidly charging form of the Nevermore, each firing upon it with _extreme_ prejudice.

Noticing how little an effect the shots were having, Naruto took a calming breath before taking aim again, firing off one last shot and striking it in its weakest point, its eye, just as it crashed through the stone platform they'd been standing on.

Wounded, the creature retreated to the side for a moment as the group of five made it to safety, leaping and blasting their ways off the falling debris to reach the higher bridge at the top of the ruined spire.

"None of this is working." Weiss stated, eyes narrowing as the Grimm regained enough of its bearings to make another charge.

Shifting her eyes to the right, Ruby spotted Blake as she whipped her way up to a platform, Naruto doing much the same on her left, as Yang stood on a shattered pillar above all of them, firing shot after blazing shot at the Grimm as it circled around them.

The Rose-themed girl gained a pensive look for a moment before reaching an epiphany, eyes quickly shifting into a look of determination as she addressed her partner.

"I've got a plan! Cover me!"

She sped off as the older girl nodded, returning her attention to Nevermore as it dodged another of Yang's shots.

The white-themed girl bit her lip in frustration at the sight.

' _Whatever she's come up with, she better do it fast.'_

0

Meanwhile, back on the bridge below, Jaune and the others were busy with their own problems, dealing with the increasing agitated form of the Death Stalker as they stood on what remained of the original bridge.

Rearing back its stinger, the creature launched another attack, this time aiming at the bridge supporting, seeking to take them all out once.

Jaune reacted first as he felt the ground beneath their feet begin to shift and sink, blade in hand as fully as he turned to the others.

"We need to move!" he shouted, snapping them out of their momentary surprise as they all began running up the destabilized platform, providing it with a small semblance of balance as thy charged headfirst into the waiting Death Stalker.

Seeing their approach, the creature reared back its claw before striking at Pyrrha, only for her to deflect the blow with her shield, causing it to recoil before launching its other claw at her, only for Jaune to block its attempt with his own shield, knocking it back and giving his partner an opening to leap over him and slash at its face, as Ren continued to fire upon it.

Incensed, the creature once again lashed out with its stinger, missing as the lotus themed boy, as he took the chance leap onto its tail, unloading entire clips into the base where the golden protrusion connected with the rest of the creature, Nora firing grenade after pink-tinted grenade to keep the Beast's attention.

As she paused to reload, the creature untucked its claws from where'd they been shielding his face, just in time for Pyrrha to launch her blade turned spear directly into one of its ten eyes.

The Beast began shaking wildly at the unexpected blow, its tail whipping erratically as Ren held onto it for dear life. Just as he felt his grip slacking, the creature reared the appendage back for one final swing, whipping out with one final thrust to send the boy into ruins surrounding them.

"Ren!" Nora called out in worry, just as the telltale sound of a Dust bullet being fired rang through the air.

Ren's eyes widened as the shot, wherever it had come from, impacted against the Death Stalker's tail just before he could be thrown off completely.

It didn't stop his flight, but it had taken enough force out of the swing to allow him some measure control while he was in the air, landing with a flip as he skidded to a stop now facing the creatures flank, is back just barely touching the wall as he finished, exhausted but unharmed.

Jaune and the others held their breath the entire time, only breathing when they saw that their wayward comrade was alright, the young knight himself narrowing his eyes on the creature as he gripped Crocea Mors all the tighter.

Unseen to him, Pyrrha mirrored his actions with the straps of her shield, Nora doing much the same, her finger twitching over Magnhild's trigger as she glared at the creature that had dared attack her partner.

This…had just gotten _personal._

Focused as he was, the young blonde was the first to notice the creature's new weakness; Its stinger, once strong and imposing, now dangled limply from the base of its tail, a parting gift from the lotus-themed boy it had flung aside.

Ah, the beauty of poetic justice.

"Pyrrha!" He called, eyes flitting to the swinging appendage, before returning to the red-haired girl.

"Done!" she replied without a hint of hesitation, following his line of sight before effortlessly throwing her shield like a discus, cleanly slicing through the last tendril of connective tissue and allowing the golden appendage to pierce the creatures already cracked skull, as she caught the rebounding form of her impromptu weapon from out of the air.

"Nora!" Jaune yelled, turning to the other girl "Nail it!"

"Heads up!" The hyper girl called out, running at Pyrrha and giving the young Spartan only a split-second to react and raise her shield before she had jumped on to it. Catching onto her plan, the red-haired girl leapt upwards, just as the shorter girl fired off another explosive round.

The combined forced sent her skyrocketing into the air, practically riding Magnhild into the clouds as she sat upon it, a joy-filled smile on her face the entire way. Reaching the apex of her flight, said smile quickly turned into a predatory grin as she repositioned herself, shifting into a series of downward spins until the head of her hammer smashed into the stinger, fully driving it into the creature's skull as the impact crushed what was left of the bridge.

Jaune and Pyrrha both quickly leapt over what remained of the creature, the latter plucking her blade out of the air as she went, Nora followed after them a second later, firing off one final explosive round to launch herself forward and sending the creature's corpse down into oblivion.

Jaune hit the ground on his back, having honestly just jumped with no plan in mind other than not following the Death Stalker. Nora made it down a second later, landing on her bottom with the same joy filled smile she'd worn earlier. Pyrrha was next, landing in a crouched pose, blade on the ground, clutched in her right hand as her shield arm was raised in the air, striking a very impressive visage, just as Ren made his way over to the group, collapsing a minute later, as they all breathed a collective sigh of relief.

By Oum were they glad _that_ was over.

As relieved as they were, they failed to notice the retreating form of an all too familiar figure on the bridge above them, the still smoking form of his gray-tinted hand-cannon clutched in his right hand, his left running through his spiky blonde hair as he returned his attention to the Nevermore plaguing his own group,

0

"Well…That happened." Naruto summed to himself, idly returning his attention to his own group's battle as he made his way over to them.

Anyone watching this would have been thrown off, if not at least a little aggravated by his nonchalance but, honestly, there really wasn't much for him to do at this point.

From where he'd been standing earlier, he'd seen Ruby quickly zip over to Blake and then to Yang, after talking to her partner, before making her way to him, laying out her plan of action once she did. His only response had been to shoot her a lopsided grin, and a thumbs-up in approval. The plan was over-the-top, risky, and borderline insane.

So, of course, he'd loved it the instant he'd heard it; It was a plan after his own heart.

There was only one problem; It only needed four people, and he wasn't really one of them.

Noticing this, the young Faunus had opted to act as back-up for the other group, just in case they needed an extra set of hands.

As it turns out, save for that single shot he'd "provided", they hadn't needed it.

Good for them.

Which was how he found himself where he was, rejoining his own group as they prepared to end this.

0

Yang remained where she had been just after hearing the plan, all but oblivious to the world around her as she burned through shot after shot of her ammo in a mad attempt at gaining ground on the birdlike Grimm, only managing to land a single strike despite her efforts.

Fortunately for all involved, this single strike made contact with the creature's already wounded right eye, changing its path as it began flying directly at her, primal pain-fueled rage coursing through its veins with every beat of its mountain sized wings as it let loose another glass shattering caw.

Yang only smirked, leaping into the still opened maw of the Nevermore without even a hint of hesitation, prying it open wider with one arm as she reared back her other with a cry of righteous indignation.

"I! Hope! You're! Hung-! …-gry! She screamed, punching forward with each syllable and sending bolts upon bolt of concussive energy down the creature's throat in short order, before looking behind her at the oncoming cliffs, back-flipping from its mouth back onto the ruin below and delivering it headfirst into the rough stone face of the mountain behind them.

Despite her efforts, the Nevermore seemed to recover quickly, practically shaking its oversized head to clear the disorientation as it fought for stability in the air.

Yang cursed for a moment upon seeing its recovery, before smiling as she spotted Blake and Ruby on the ruined Columns as Weiss rushed toward her as she sprinted forward, just making out the approaching form of Naruto as he fully made his way to the group.

Weiss zoomed past her as she made her way over to them, just as the bird-like creature managed to regain its balance. Her rapier outstretched, the white-themed girl leapt to the base of the cliff, stabbing forward and encasing the creature's feathered tail in a thick layer of ice, pinning it despite the cracks its struggles garnered.

Back-flipping onto a snowflake-like glyph, the Schnee heiress leapt back to the ruins after her attack, running back to the group just as their plan was set in motion.

Blake, hanging from the side of a column, quickly fired the pistol form of her weapon, launching it over to Yang who hung opposite her, the two of them simultaneously pulling the dust ribbon that now hung between them, tightening it, as the blonde stabbed her end into the rough stone of her pillar for added security, before dropping to the ground.

Seeing their job done, Ruby leapt forward, landing in the center of the now-taut ribbon, balancing on Crescent Rose as she pulled it back far enough for Weiss to catch and hold it in place with a black colored sigil, the older girl standing alongside it to better line up her shot.

"Of course, _you_ would come up with this idea." Weiss mused snidely to her partner, eyes still locked on the Nevermore.

"Think you can make the shot?" The younger girl asked curiously, choosing to ignore her partners snark.

"Hmm! Can I!" The heiress replied confidently, bordering between sarcastic and downright smug as she smirked.

A second passed, and Naruto oddly wondered why he expected a tumbleweed to pass through the area at any second.

"…Sooo, you c-?" Ruby began to ask, the sarcasm in the older girl's tone sailing right over her head.

"Of course, I can!" The white-themed girl replied indignantly; Honestly, what was the point of using wit if no one could understand it?

0

The Nevermore, its ancient mind registering what they intended to do, redoubled its efforts for freedom, the cracks in the ice encasing its tail growing larger by the second.

Naruto's eyes widened as he saw this, before rushing up to the person closest to him, namely, Yang.

"It's not gonna work!"

She shot him a bewildered look "Wha-?

"The plan!" He interrupted quickly, knowing they were short on time "It won't work! That things stronger than we thought, it'll break free before they can fire at this rate!"

He gestured towards where the bird-creature was still struggling, the bombshell blonde following his gaze as she noticed the ice surrounding its feathers only a few seconds from shattering, the red and white-themed girls too enraptured in their preparation to notice.

"Shit!" She gasped out in horrified disbelief, before turning to the younger blonde "What do we do?"

The young Faunus paused a moment, hands splayed on his forehead as his mind ran a mile a minute trying to pump out a solution before it was too late, eyes shifting between the nearly unbound Nevermore and the worried looking Yang looking to him for an answer.

And then something… _clicked_ , his mind shifting back to a particular maneuver Amber had told him about during training, perfect for just this type of scenario.

"…Yang?" he asked, a determined look coming to his eyes as he addressed her "How's your fastball?"

She blinked in confusion at the seemingly random question, before her eyes widened in realization, a smirk making its way to her face as she smashed a fist into her hand, cracking her knuckles.

"Never better Foxy."

0

The small red-haired girl nodded, more to prepare herself than to respond to her partner as she turned to face the creature, pumping Crescent Rose in preparation, just as she felt Weiss begin to manipulate the aura maintaining her Glyph.

That's when things got _complicated._

Just as the sigil's tint began shifting from black to red, the Heiress found her focus destroyed by yet another ear-splitting caw, followed by the sound of shattering glass.

Looking up, her eyes widened in shock and no small amount of fear, her red-haired partner's doing much the same, the two of them just barely registering the voice of Blake as it cursed somewhere behind them.

There, charging towards them at high speeds, the still frosted tips of its feathered tail trailing behind it, was the overbearing form of the Nevermore, freed from its icy prison and barreling towards them with reckless abandon as sought to gain a measure of revenge.

Worse yet, there was nothing they could do to stop it, least not that they could see; The two were still in position for their team attack, the creature would flatten them in the time it took for either of them to move out of the way or try to defend themselves.

All other options lost on them, the two girls could only stare in horror at the Beast's approach, Blake, her weapon still pinned down for their final maneuver, doing much the same behind them, cursing her inability to offer support fire as the creature reared itself up, apparently intent on impaling them on its massive talons.

The creature drew closer and all three of them instinctively closed their eyes, all doing so with a cringe as they heard the creature let loose with one final blood-curdling cry of triumph.

Only this time, something answered it; Something… _roared_ back.

" _ **Rah!**_ **"**

All eyes snapped open at the sound of the almost feral battle cry, just in time to see the aura-covered form of Naruto as he sped past them, ramming shoulder first into the oversized creature, forcing it away from the two girls.

In shock, the three girls turned their heads back to where he had come, looking for an explanation. There answer came in the form of a still smirking Yang, arm still outstretched as if she were a pitcher.

'No way…" They thought in shocked unison, turning back to the scene just as the young Faunus boy's momentum forced both himself and the Nevermore back into the cliff face.

"Do it!" He called out, snapping them from there daze "Now!"

"R-Right!" Ruby said, readying herself as she shook out of her surprise before turning to her partner "Weiss!"

"On it!" The girl responded quickly, wasting no time, pumping aura into her sigil as she lined up the shot before releasing her partner firing off a shot as she was propelled forward at high speeds, launch cracks burrowing into the ground at the utter force behind the attack.

Rose petals appeared and flew in her wake as she fired shot after shot, boosting her speed with each click of the trigger as she closed in on her prey, hooking the blade of her scythe around its neck just before gravity retook its hold on the creature, her whisker faced friend leaping next to her as she did so, his claws, having previously dug into the Nevermore's already damaged chest, now sinking deeply into the stone so he could hang beside her.

Before she could begin to fall with the added weight, Weiss, from her place on the ground, quickly raised her rapier, a line of glyphs appearing on the cliff face and following her movements, each one designed to boost speed and defy gravity.

Her foothold secure, the young redhead sent a glance at her Faunus friend just as he did the same, nodding to each other before wordlessly, they both began charging up the rock face, Ruby still boosting her speed with gunfire as Naruto endlessly pumped streams of aura into his own limbs to keep up, pulling ahead as the younger girl began running out of steam.

With one final push, they reached the top of the cliff, the young Fox boy shooting into the air with a leap as his scythe wielding companion blazed her way up after him, expelling the last shot in her clip as she did so, forcing every ounce strength she could muster into her already exhausted limbs to deal the finishing blow.

' _Just… a little bit…more!'_ She thought straining herself forward.

As if sensing her thoughts, Naruto chose that moment to reappear, bearing down on the creature as he descended upon it form the heavens, riding his momentum just long enough to deliver a thunderous axe kick to the top of its skull.

The strength behind the opposing forces becoming too much for its flesh to bear, the Nevermore let loose one final cry of anguish before its head was rended from its shoulder's in a shower of crimson petals, the whisker-faced boy flipping out of his kick and onto the cliff next to his younger companion just in time to watch as both corpse and head fell down into the bottomless mist below them.

It… was over.

For a moment, silence reigned, broken only by the sounds of Naruto's slightly labored breathing and Ruby's cape fluttering in the wind.

The others, standing scattered below them, watched on in amazement at the feat they had just witnessed, Jaune summing up their collective thoughts with one word as he breathed out:

"Woah…"

Back on the cliff, the two youngest of their group stood peering down at them, before, clutching his slightly bruised arm as he did so, the whiskered Faunus sent his red-haired companion a bright, if tired, smile of relief which she happily returned, a slight tinge of pink dusting her cheeks in the process, as a cascade of vermillion petals flowed through the wind around them.

Shaking herself from her daze, Yang cast a long look to those around her, feeling a strong desire to say something, but with no idea what it should be.

"Well" she said after a long moment "That just happened."

0

"Russel Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark." Ozpin announced, overlooking the four dull-looking boys from earlier as they stood on stage, arms folded behind their backs a few hours after the end of the Test.

The surrounding crowd, a now rapidly-healing Naruto and the others among them, applauded politely as the boys' profiles appeared on the auditorium screen, lining up into a set formation as the white-haired headmaster continued "The four of you retrieved the black Bishop pieces. From this day forward you will work together as Team CRDL (Cardinal), led by…Cardin Winchester.

Cardin, the tall one that had sneered at Naruto earlier, didn't have much reaction to his new position, however, if you paid attention, one could just make out a slight smirk working its way to his lips at the news.

' _Why do I get the feeling this is gonna come back to bite someone in the ass?'_ Naruto questioned himself in suspicion, eyes narrowed on the retreating older boy's even as he applauded the next group's approach.

"Jaune Arc." Ozpin continued, pulling the young Faunus' attention back to the stage as he pushed his concerned thoughts to the back of his mind "Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie"

There profiles appeared on the screen briefly before rearranging into an acronym "The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR (Juniper)!"

The crowd erupted into applause around the four teens as they smiled at one another in pride, Nora laughing joyfully as she leapt at Ren, wrapping her arms around the surprised boy's neck in a hug, her face growing just close enough to his to take it further if either was so inclined.

' _Huh, sooo… they_ **are** _together then?'_ Naruto thought to himself idly, noticing the shorter girl's action as he continued applauding " _Well…good for them!"_ He affirmed happily, crushing down the confusing hint of disappointment that had spiked through him at the realization.

"You will be __led by" Ozpin continued once the cheering had tapered off "... Jaune Arc!

The cheering reared up again, Naruto and Ruby leading the charge as the young knight stared at the headmaster in shock.

"Huh? L-Led by...?"

"Congratulations, young man." The spectacled man affirmed, a small smile on his lips as he noticed the boy's awestruck face.

Grinning at her still shell-shocked partner, Pyrrha playfully punched him in the arm in congratulation, the strength behind the blow knocking her new "leader" of balance for a moment before he managed to stabilize himself, causing some amongst the crowd to chuckle as he sent a mock glare at his partner.

She sent him a teasing smile in return, as together the new teammates made their way off-stage to allow the next group to step forward.

"Naruto Uzumaki." Ozpin began again after they'd left the stage "Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long." He began, motioning to the five of them' as he spoke.

The crowd, though still slightly confused by the number of people mentioned, quickly began applauding this newest group as their profiles appeared on screen.

After allowing a moment for the latest round of applause to subside, the older man continued "Ladies, the four of you collected the White Knight Pieces, and young man, you collected the Black King Piece."

He turned to Naruto "Normally, you and your partner would be placed with the bearers of the same pieces, however, it has come to my attention that, outside of yourself, no one bearing said pieces has managed to pass."

At this information, muttering broke out amongst the crowd, and Ozpin noted with interest how three of the four girls shifted their eyes to their young Faunus in concern; Weiss only lifted an eyebrow.

Naruto, however, only nodded at the news, Goodwitch having pulled him aside after he'd been bandaged up to inform him of the issue, as well as a few… _other_ things.

Even if she didn't know it…

"Having said this, you _have_ earned your place in this academy, and were thus offered a choice earlier; You have expressed a desire to be part of _this_ team, does your desire stand?"

"Yes sir. "The whiskered boy replied resolutely.

"Very well" the spectacled man responded before turning to the others, who had been watching the scene with a sense of unease "Are the four of you willing to accept young Mr. Uzumaki onto your team?"

"YES!" Ruby exclaimed without hesitation, relieved at the chance to help her friend, before blushing at the chuckles that erupted around her as she realized just how loud she'd gotten "I mean, yes."

"I'm all for it!" Yang supplied happily, sending a teasing smirk the young Fox boy's way, which he returned.

"I see no reason not to." Blake readily agreed in her typically calm tone.

And then, there was silence, as the entire crowd turned their eyes to the now pensive looking Schnee Heiress as she mulled the matter over mentally.

' _On the one hand'_ she thought with mild agitation _'He's a criminal, and a Faunus. But on the other…'_ Her mind flashed back to his "actions" in the forest earlier that day, both with her and the Nevermore, before turning to the others.

While Ozpin and, surprisingly, Naruto himself only met her with impassive, if mildly curious looks, the other three girls sent her pleading looks.

Okay, well, Ruby's was pleading; Yang's was more insisting and Blake's…?

Yeah, Blake's just promised pain if she didn't say the right thing.

 _Well_ then.

Annoyed, the white-themed girl quickly turned her attention back to the headmaster before gritting out her answer.

"It's fine."

She took a breath as he nodded, registering her answer.

' _At least it'll get me out of his debt_.' She told herself consolingly.

"Very well." Ozpin picked up again once they had all answered "From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWUBY (Ruby)."

The crowd erupted around the newly formed team of five as they congratulated one another, each beaming with smiles of pride.

The white-haired man allowed them a moment to bask in the praise before continuing "You will be led by… Ruby Rose!"

At this proclamation, Weiss's look of pride fell into one of surprise as she whipped her head around to an equally shell-shocked Ruby, just as the younger girl found herself pulled into a bone-crushing hug by her sister.

"I'm so proud of you!" She exclaimed happily, releasing the still slightly stunned girl as Naruto approached.

"Congrats Little Red." He said, smiling warmly as he ruffled her hair.

"D'oh…!" She huffed, pushing his hand away, even as she blushed at the contact before stuttering "But t-thanks..."

He just sent her another teasing grin before going back to the others, leaving the frazzled red-themed girl to try and calm her now rapid heartbeat.

' _Seriously, what the heck is wrong with m_ e?" she thought in near panic.

Watching the teens among the last rounds of applause before they departed, Ozpin couldn't help but comment.

"It looks like things are shaping up to be an… _interesting_ year."

0

Elsewhere, in an uncharted region of forest outside Vale, another young man, this one with spiked _red_ hair, sat alone within a tent, his attention focused upon a pirated recording of the day's earlier exam as it recounted the events under which Team RWUBY had been born.

Focused as he was, he couldn't help the narrowing of his eyes as he spotted the black-themed form of Blake amongst the other figures presented, standing atop a shattered pillar.

' _So, this is where you've chosen to hide…'_ he thought to himself in anger, his grip tightening on the hilt of his weapon as he watched her, before another movement caught his eye.

Another teen, this one male, baring a bright orange white-tipped foxtail appeared on screen much to the Watcher's interest, just in time to shoulder tackle the Nevermore the group had been fighting, the momentum carrying him far enough to send them both into the cliffside surrounding them.

' _Hmmm…this one…may be worth watching.'_

Before he could make any further comments, the communicator on his table began to vibrate, as the voice of Roman Torchwick made its way through the receiver shortly after.

"We're gonna need more men."

Pausing, the red-haired young man took a breath to collect his thoughts before responding.

"Fine…" He ground out lowly in reply, his eyes scanning over the image on screen a moment before continuing "But only on one condition…"

Clicking a button on his keyboard, the image froze on the smiling form of Naruto, as plans for the young Faunus began to take shape.

 **Author's Note:**

 **HAPPY NEW YEAR!**

 **Hello Lovely Readers of the Internet, Reflective599 here with a new chapter literally months in the making!**

 **Alright, first off, Technical:**

 **Longest chapter yet, so, thanks for waiting. As usual, this was edited and approved by the phenomenal Snowtime (the amazing author behind the Ten-Tailed Jumper), and I'm not gonna lie, next chapter (that involves the plot, at least) is gonna take a while, and I do have a reason.**

 **Writers Block.**

 **Yeah, I know, I hate it to. Case your new, I've been editing as many mistakes as I could recently, and somewhere along the line, I started nitpicking whatever I put down,** _ **especially**_ **with the dialogue.**

 **Don't worry. This doesn't mean I'm quitting on this story, the chapter will come eventually, just, bear with me awhile until it does.**

 **Who knows, maybe something ese will come from it. Could just mean I need a break from writing Rwby for awhile…**

 **Ah, but enough of that!**

 **Onto** _ **this**_ **story.**

 **First big fight out of the way, so that's fun.**

 **Now I know what your gonna say, yes, there wasn't a lot of variation from the original. I get that, and I'm sorry to those I disappointed. Consider this one my, "training wheels", as it were. I'll get better at making these drawn out fight scenes as the story progresses, but first I needed to get a feel for them in this chapter. Don't worry.**

 **Speaking of disappointment though, that Jaune and Pyrrha scene…I'm Sorry, I couldn't resist. The hopeless romantic in me couldn't help but take a crack at it while I had the chance. I know it was probably cringe worthy, but, I had to at least see how it went.**

 **Don't worry, there won't be many more (at least, none that won't involve a favorite whisker-faced Faunus in some way), but heads up that some will work their way in.**

 **I have a thing for character interactions, so su- (Nope, you're not tricking me that easily!)**

 **All that said though, next chapter should be out after a while. I still have to edit Chapter 7 a bit more, and after that who knows.**

 **Until that time, I have been Reflective599, and thank you for reading.**

 **PEACE!**

 **(FOLLOW! FAVORITE! REVIEW!)**


	7. Long Day's and Longer Nights

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, not Naruto and not RWBY, and by gosh do I regret it.

Ch.7

Long Days and Longer Nights

"Alright Foxy, spill it." Yang demanded as the newly minted team of five exited the auditorium for the night, her tone a mix between teasing and stern as they met up with the now members of Team JNPR on the way out.

"Spill what?" The young Faunus questioned curiously, shooting her a look far too innocent to be real "You'll have to be a little more specific there, Firecracker."

"If I'm not mistaken, I believe she's referring to how you managed to make your way onto a team of five." Ren commented as the others leaned in out of curiosity.

"Oh, that" Naruto said before shrugging "Oh you know, a little of this, a little of that. A bribe to Ozpin here, a little flirting with Glynda there…"

He stopped when he saw the others shoot him deadpan looks, raising his hands in surrender when he saw a now agitated Yang begin to crack her knuckles.

"Alright, alright, it was worth a shot…" he paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts "Okay, short answer: I didn't do anything."

He paused as their looks turned to disbelief.

"What? It's true!" he said hurriedly, before sighing as he decided to start from the beginning "Okay, let me start over, you remember when I had to go get this?" he asked, pulling back the arm of his jacket and pointing a thumb to his heavily bandaged right shoulder.

The others nodded.

Evidently his and Yang's attack against the Nevermore earlier had had a greater effect on him then they'd first thought.

That layer of Aura that had enveloped him had been… _experimental_ , to say the least. Something he'd cooked up, on the fly, as he recalled the Raikage's _Raiton no Yoroi_ (Lightning Release Armor).

True, it wasn't nearly as powerful, but it worked in a pinch.

Even so, there were still a few bugs to workout. The move had two main functions: Keep him moving, and in one piece, either preventing or healing any injuries that he might get in the process.

Granted, considering the alternative, a bruised shoulder wasn't so bad, but, it could still cause problems later, not the least of which was slowing his reaction time until it was healed, even despite his Aura's attempts to mend it. Hence the need for a _very_ quick trip to the infirmary.

The young Faunus took a breath "Alright then, it was a little bit after I got finished…"

 _!FLASHBACK!_

" _Well this sucks." The blonde fox-boy summed to himself, stretching out his newly-bandaged arm and checking the limits of the wrappings as he sat upon the short examination table, the young, dark purple-haired nurse that had done the deed going back to her office once she'd finished her work._

" _Damn I miss my healing…" he groused as the faint feelings of tension ran through out his arm._

 _Don't misunderstand, the healing effect of his Aura was great! Seriously, there was no telling how many times he would have died without it during those first few weeks living on his own. The problem was, well…_

 _Dear Oum, was it slow!_

 _Wounds that would have taken his past self a decent hour at most to mend now took whole days_ _ **at least!**_ _Even when he focused it…_

 _He'd never realized how much he'd depended on his Uzumaki genes until he'd had to leave them. Sure, it was still faster than someone without Aura, but still…_

" _Never know what you've got 'til it's gone…" He mused aloud, stretching the last bits of tension he could out of his arm and the rest of his limbs before hopping down from the table as he made his way over to collect his jacket from the chair he'd tossed it on._

' _Jeez, if Shizune-nee or Baa-chan could see me now…' He shook his head in amusement at the thought as he pulled the orange and black piece of fabric on gingerly over his mesh shirt, and making his way to the door._

 _The irony; He could finally leave a doctor's office whenever he felt like it… but only after he'd a gotten body that need_ _time to heal._

" _I can almost hear them laughing now…" He chuckled to himself lightly as he stepped into the hall, fully intent on heading towards where he remembered the auditorium being._

 _Pity that plan went the way of the dodo like the rest of 'em._

 _Before he could even turn the corner, he was halted by a firm, yet, distinctly feminine voice._

" _Mr. Uzumaki." It called to him sternly "A word, please."_

 _It wasn't a request._

 _Turning to face the speaker, his eyes were met with the sight of one Glynda Goodwitch; the older woman he now assumed was the Deputy Headmistress._

 _From where he stood she was an inch or so shorter than him._ _She had extremely light- almost platinum-blonde hair which, at the moment, was tied back into a bun, a single curl hanging down the right side of her face. Her bright green eyes, leveled sharply on him, were set behind a pair of thin ovular glasses, offset only by the pair of dangling teal earrings and matching pendant which hung around her neck._

 _As for clothing, she wore a white long-sleeved and pleated top, with a wide keyhole neckline (Which he steadfastly held himself from lingering on) and cuffs which flared into pleats at the wrist. In addition to this, she also wore a cape of some sort, purple on the inside, and ending in a patterned array of stylized flames and arrows._

 _Her lower body was covered by a black high-waisted pencil skirt, held by bronze buttons, and accented by brown almost black stocking, with a pair of black, brown-heeled boots completing the look._

 _Overall, she seemed to be an attractive, if, severe looking woman; the slant of her eyes giving the impression she was more accustomed to scowling then she was to smiling._

 _She stalked toward him purposefully once he'd stopped, the conduit for her abilities, a riding crop, held in her right hand as she clutched a clipboard to her chest with her left._

 _He chuckled nervously to himself as he noticed her weapon-of-choice._

' _Well…That doesn't bode well.' He gulped slightly, before urging a smile onto his face 'Best foot forward.'_

 _Just as he opened his mouth to spark a conversation, maybe make an attempt at breaking the ice, he was struck by a sharp and sudden wave of her Presence._

 _All at once his instincts began to scream in protest at the unexpected intrusion, their host suddenly finding himself having to beat them back as he fought to withhold the innate urge to growl._

 _Confused? Well, put it like this…_

 _If Aura was the physical embodiment of one's soul, then Presence was…the physical_ **awareness** _of that soul. It had no scent, no color, and no form, it was just an overwhelming sense of being, constantly projecting outwards to the world surrounding it._

 _Hunter, Huntress, or even Civilian, it didn't matter, all possessed a Presence. It was what drew Grimm to them; The subconscious projection of their emotions into the outside world, specifically those of negativity, called the foul Beast's forward._

 _However, that same projection could be used for,_ **other** _things._

 _A skilled Huntsman or Huntress could manipulate their own Presence; use it to affect those around them more directly. With enough practice, they could invoke practically any emotion in their targets: Happiness, Serenity, Sadness…even Rage._

 _But there was a catch._

 _Above all, Presence was a_ **physical** _awareness; It could be tracked by the senses._

 _This usually wouldn't be a problem; it was rare for a Faunus to be so in-tune with their senses that they could recognize the effects, let alone a human. All in all, the average Aura user wouldn't be able to discern what was going on from a shift in their own emotions._

 _But Naruto was anything but average._

 _Sure, it had taken a moment, and she'd needed to get close before he'd recognized it but now that she had, the signal was coming through loud and clear._

 _The older woman radiated nothing short of an overwhelming sense of Authority._

 _That wouldn't be so bad, she was a Professor after-all, but this feeling carried with it very specific undertones._

 _Restraint, Confinement,_ **Control.**

 _And if there was one thing the young Faunus hated, it was being controlled._

 _All but throwing her Presence off with a surge of his Aura, he all but snarled at her, before forcing his anger down, his face morphing into a mask of hard stoicism, reflecting none of the light-heartedness he'd come to be known for._

" _Professor Goodwitch. To what do I owe this_ _unexpected pleasure?" He ground out coldly, arms crossed as she came to a halt in front of him._

 _She raised a single eyebrow at him, adding just the slightest tinge of confusion to her distinctive features, though, whether it was surprise at how easily he'd managed to throw off her Presence or from the tone itself was anyone's guess._

 _Evidently deciding the issue wasn't worth the time it would take to pursue, she instead resolved to push forward with her original agenda._

" _Loose ends, I'm afraid." She began with a put-upon sigh, flipping through the pages pinned to her clipboard "An issue seems to have arisen concerning your entrance examination."_

" _How so?" he asked, his eyebrow quirked, aggravation temporarily supplanted by curiosity._

" _It appears that throughout the entirety of the exam, you somehow managed to avoid partnering with anyone."_

"' _Knew there was something I forgot…" He couldn't help but interject sarcastically with a snap of his fingers and a cheeky half-smile_

 _Her only response was to shoot him a deadpan look, her eyes conveying a distinct_ **lack** _of amusement, before continuing._

" _Regardless, such an oversight would normally result in your needing to retake the entrance exam at a later date, most likely next year."_

" _ **However"**_ _She continued forcefully after seeing him start to protest "Fortunately for you, this is not the first time such a case has occurred within Beacon's history, so there are other options."_

" _I'm listening.' He said quietly intrigued, brow raised in silent question._

" _As both you and Miss Rose are special cases, having been personally invited by the Headmaster himself, certain concessions were unearthed for just this sort of situation. What that means for you, is that you now have a choice as to how to proceed."_

" _You can take the original option I've already explained; you can form a team onto yourself- "_

" _Wait, what?!" The young Faunus exclaimed in shock. They'd actually let rookies act on their own? Skilled or not, that was insane! What the hell was wrong with these people?!_

" _Indeed." The stern woman confirmed, choosing to respond to his surprise rather than berate him for the interruption "It_ **is** _rare, however, you are not the first to complete initiation without a partner and there have been those to take that route in the past, some to a substantial level of success. Our own Professor Peach, for example, did quite well for herself following that path before returning to guide the next generation."_

 _The boy could only nod mutely, still trying to process the idea of sending out new initiates without someone to watch their backs._

" _The other option" the older woman continued after he'd managed to gather himself pay attention "Is to request insertion into an already existing team."_

 _She held up a finger before continuing further, already moving to answer the oncoming question._

" _The clause allowing it was added around a year or so ago, for a case not to dissimilar to yours in fact. A few years ago, it just so happened that a pair of twins, Lorna and Lilith Viridian, both took the entrance exam together. From what we came to understand the two of them had always been exceedingly close, even for sisters, and in retrospect, it isn't hard to see why."_

 _He nodded as she paused to take a breath and collect her thoughts on the best way to delve into what she wanted to say._

" _Twins have always been a bit of a mystery amongst Aura-Users; Having two souls so thoroughly connected at birth has been known to grant abilities considered unique even amongst the most well-versed of Huntsman."_

 _Unbidden, an image of two nearly identical Black Birds flitted through her mind before she forced it away just as quickly._

" _It's gotten to the point that, amongst the more superstitious wandering tribes, certain legends have even sprung up around them. There's even one that insists that Twins are essentially the result of one soul being split between two bodies."_

 _His eyes narrowed in mild confusion at that._

'That's…oddly specific. I mean, it's cool and everything but what's the point of mentioning some random legend? Sure, they're both about twins but it's not like…WAIT!'.

" _No way…" He breathed out, his eyes shooting wide open in shock at the implication as he turned to the older woman for confirmation._

 _For her part, the Veteran Huntress merely nodded "Indeed. Somehow, from the moment they were born the two sisters were somehow able to divide their Aura between one another."_

 _Almost any trace of anger he'd once held toward the woman in front of him was thrown to the wayside as his mind began racing a mile a minute, trying to understand what he'd just learned._

" _How?" He asked slowly after a moment, trying (and failing) to keep the shock out of his voice._

 _The older woman just shrugged "There's never been a definitive reason why, after a while people just accepted it as a strange quirk of birth. However, what_ **can** _be explained is how they made use of the ability in combat."_

 _The young Faunus' ears perked up at that, glad to be back on a topic that_ **didn't** _try and fry his brain cells._

" _From what we observed, the twins were able to sense each other over an indefinite distance, feed their Aura into one another to heal their wounds and replenish their energy- "_

" _I hate to interrupt" He paused "Again." He added as an afterthought "Really, I do. But, um, what does any of this have to do with me being placed on a team?"_

 _Don't get him wrong, it_ **was** interesting _and he didn't mind hearing about it but, honestly, the woman was starting to pick up a head of steam and if she kept going like she was…_

 _Yeah, he wanted to leave sometime this year, thank you._

" _I was getting to that." She huffed in annoyance, before re-schooling her features "Now then, though the ability did allow them many benefits, it also came with a major drawback: They could only make use of their Semblance when in direct contact with one another. And when you consider the layout of the Entrance Exam…"_

 _Naruto couldn't help but wince as she trailed off. When you take into account how dependent some Huntsman were on their Semblance, and pile the anxiety of taking a dangerous, life altering exam alongside the sudden loss of it, the result would be nothing short of_ **crippling** _, especially for a pair of rookies._

" _As you can imagine, their first priority once they touched the ground was to find one another, and make no mistake, they were far from helpless even without their Semblance to fall back on, so they were able to do so with relative ease. However, before they could, Lorna crossed paths with a boy named Byron Greymore, and ended up partnering with him."_

" _It wasn't long after that she came across her sister, who had managed to ally herself with the already partnered duo of Carlos Sinopia and Talia Vermillion, before, as a group they proceeded to collect their chosen Relics and complete the exam, the twins making use of their Semblance, Gemini-" She shot him a deadpan glare when he snorted at the oh too obvious name choice "-to help dispatch the overly large pack Ursa Major that attempted to waylay them."_

" _It wasn't long after this that the clause allowing for Five-Person Teams to be formed under unique circumstances was added to the charter; The five of them had worked exceedingly well together and the Headmaster thought it best to leave them together in the group which later became known as Team CBLLT (Cobalt). Last I checked, the group had transferred to a school in Vacuo to hone their skills further after spending two years attending Beacon."_

 _She concluded her impromptu history lesson with a short intake of breath before pausing to allow the boy to process the influx of new information she'd dumped on him._

 _In retrospect, she'd probably gone a bit overboard with her explanation she noted idly, her Teaching instincts having ushered her into full on lecture mode before she could stop herself._

' _Something I probably should have clamped down on sooner, honestly.' She thought a tad ruefully, mildly annoyed with herself._

 _Pushing her thoughts to the side, she turned her eyes back the young Faunus in front of her, raising a brow in curiosity as she did. It would seem that while she had allowed her mind to wander, the boy had remained focused on her, though grantedly with an increasingly far-off look in his eyes, as if he were caught somewhere between listening for new information and rifling through what he already had._

 _Taking pity, she decided it was best to "Throw him a bone", as the saying went._

" _Do you have any questions, Mr. Uzumaki?" She prompted carefully, honestly more curious about his response than she'd like to admit._

 _His eyes snapped fully back into focus at the sound of her voice and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't at least a tad taken aback by their intensity before he seemed to remember where he was and relax them._

" _Yeah, um" he began slowly, apparently still slightly off-balance as he searched for words "What was their Semblance?"_

 _She just managed to restrain a roll of her eyes, but put in no such effort to withhold a sigh at the question._

 _It wasn't like the question itself was unwarranted, in fact, if it had been any other student his age, it's the exact one she would have been expecting._

 _Despite what anyone said, at 17 years of age one was still a_ _ **child,**_ _and children were prone to ignoring deeper details, preferring to latch onto what they found most entertaining as opposed to reading into more minute subjects._

 _The fact that he was 16, a year younger than almost every one of his would-be peers, only made his response that more understandable._

 _It was just that, based upon what Ozpin had said of him, and what she'd observed of his Initiation, she'd been expecting something a tad more…thought out._

 _He was obviously far more mature than his age would suggest, the surprising level of control he'd displayed over his Aura was proof enough of that (The ease with which he'd thrown off her Presence earlier had been admirable, at least for his age, even if it had only been a small surge)._

 _In light of this, such a…_ simplistic _response somehow just seemed, well, dreadfully underwhelming._

"" _Gemini", from what was observed, appeared to be a very…_ subjective _Semblance, as its been theorized that it may change depending on the set of twins who make use of it. The variation the Viridian Sisters made use of however, allowed them to "Fuse" into one being."_

 _She made to pause in her explanation to allow this latest shock to sink in properly, but to her surprise he swiftly gestured for her to continue as she had been._

 _Apparently, she wasn't the only one impatient with the topic._

" _If I recall correctly, their fused state was a four-armed amalgamation of themselves, fully capable of using the dual gun-scimitars both of them used at the same time. I believe they called the form "Shiva", though for the life of me I couldn't tell you why."_

 _She muttered that last part lowly, to the point the young Faunus just her barely managed to catch it, before returning her attention to him._

" _Is that really all you took from this discussion, Mr. Uzumaki?" She couldn't help but ask, trying to keep her voice neutral and free of the twinge of disappointment she felt over his supposed short-sightedness._

 _It didn't work._

" _No" The young man started slowly with a shake of his head as he pinched the bridge of his nose "I just needed to buy time for everything else to sink in. So!" He snapped up suddenly with a clap of his hands "Just so I've got this straight: A couple of Twins needed to be with one another, you guys added something to make it happen, and thanks to that same something I can either join a team of four or ride solo. That 'bout sum it up?"_

 _Well, that was…concise._

" _Indeed." She said after a moment, and began flipping through the multitude of papers pinned to her clipboard, almost (Key-word there) absent-mindedly, far more surprised by his shift in demeanor than she would like to admit; The fact that he summed up everything she'd said in less than two minutes only adding fuel to the fire._

" _These are the Team configurations as they stand now." She informed after a moment, handing him three pages with various student profiles printed on them "If you choose to go that route, you can request entrance into any one of them, though be warned, final say on your acceptance falls to your prospective teammates, and it must be a unanimous decision on their part."_

 _Naruto nodded stiffly, mind still focused on the pages. The teams were rather straightforward, albeit with no indication of who was supposed to lead them. Ruby and the rest who had fought the Nevermore made up one, while Jaune and those who had fought the Deathstalker made up another._

 _The dull looking boys he had noticed earlier, oddly enough were their own team, which surprised him: Based on what he'd seen, he'd figured_ **tha** _t bunch of meat heads would've gotten fried once they'd hit the forest._

' _Well, least it helps narrow things down' He thought, trying to add a little levity to the situation, if only in his own mind, but failing to put any heart into it._

" _Jeez" He breathed out tiredly as he held all the pages in one hand, running the other through his hair, eyes narrowed in concentration as he decided on a plan of action._

 _This…was far more complicated than it should have been._

 _It hadn't been much, but while he'd been in the process of getting patched-up (The trip over included) he'd had time to let his mind wander over how his placement in the school might go. The two options in front of him had seemed the most likely to occur, and, currently, were the ones which left him the most uneasy._

 _Don't misunderstand, he was still going to enter Beacon; He had earned his place in the school and he'd be a fool to turn down the opportunity now that he'd gotten this far, but he'd be lying if he said his two choices didn't raise…_ **concerns.**

 _On the one hand, he could form a Team of One. He was strong enough to manage it and it_ was _how he was used to operating. On top of that, he'd be able to move a lot more easily without having to follow a Leader's orders or, Oum forbid, having to issue them._

 _At the same time though, something in his gut told him that it would be a mistake. Even ignoring the obvious (He couldn't take on everything himself, at least if that Nevermore was anything to go by), the idea of being alone again didn't really appeal to him all that much._

 _If he were honest, isolation didn't suit him all that well. Those Nine years he'd spent in the forest hadn't been the most pleasant, but he'd tempered any discomfort by keeping himself active and with the knowledge that no matter how bad it got, things were still better than they had been in Atlas._

 _Even so, by the time Ozpin and Ironwood had come across him, he'd already been considering leaving the area. Maybe making his way into the city and stowing away on a Bullhead and travelling somewhere, just to add some variety to his life._

 _Hell, he might have even made his way to that "Menagerie" Amber had mentioned if he'd gotten the chance…_

 _Either way, even if the two Headmasters hadn't shown up that day, his time in the wilderness had been coming to an end. Ozpins offer of schooling in a new area and protection from ticked-off rich people and their lawyers had just sweetened the deal._

 _Well, that and bugging Ironwood; Throwing stoic-types off their game was always a plus._

 _To go from where he was now, surrounded by new friends and constant interaction, back to any semblance of where he had been would be…_ **difficult** _, to say the least, and it wasn't something he wanted to rush into without cause._

 _Having said that though, joining a Team didn't come without its fair share of problems as well._

 _Barring the reservations he had with orders and the following thereof, there was one major factor which made him wary of the whole situation:_

 _Trust._

 _Now don't misunderstand, he trusted his new friends a great deal. The amount of time he'd spent with Ruby and Jaune was proof enough of that. And, even if he didn't know them as well, Nora, Pyrrha, Blake and Yang all seemed like decent -enough people to be around. Hell, Ren probably was too once you looked past the whole, you know, holding a gun to his head thing… and after she saved Ruby, even Weiss had started to grow on him._

 _Slowly…Very,_ very _, slowly._

 _But, even so, there was a difference between trusting someone enough to share a drink with them and trusting them to watch your back in the middle of a firefight, especially when the person you were supposed to be watching out for was carrying so much baggage._

 _The sad fact was, no matter which life you referred to, Naruto Uzumaki came pre-packaged with secrets, and though he suspected the same could be said for any number of the people he'd met (Blake and Ren standing as prime contenders), the ones he carried were dangerous even by his standards._

 _And unlike those two, at least he assumed, they had the potential to prove far more dangerous for those around him then they did for himself._

 _Even barring off the whole" Reincarnation-bit" of his upbringing, something he'd never mentioned to anyone, not even Amber, the years he'd spent growing up in that forest would always be a topic of interest._

 _Though he hadn't put much thought into it at the time, revealing his identity and whereabouts had probably been a mistake, albeit one made with the greatest of intentions._

 _True, he had done so in order to save lives, to caution people from venturing into the wilderness without proper care being taken before hand, but he'd failed to account for the effects it would have._

 _Without even realizing what he was doing, he had made what had once been a myth into something of flesh and blood; He had given a face for his enemies to target._

 _For the Schnee Dust Company to target._

 _Forget mistake; It had been downright_ **Stupid!**

 _Word was bound to get back to them eventually, one way or another, either from Ironwood or from some other source. From there it was only a matter of time before they at least tried to start causing problems, legally or otherwise, and he wouldn't put it past any one of them to try and hurt him by attacking the people he called friends._

 _It would be the_ **Shinob** i _way of handling the problem._

 _And while he believed he could take any number of their grunts on his own, he'd be Damned_ **and** _Burn in Hell before he'd let any of his Precious People get hurt just for the crime of being near him._

 _No matter how strong they were._

 _The memory of a determined Ruby rushing toward the Deathstalker only to be bashed aside flashed before his eyes before he shook it away._

 _It would be just like that girl to rush and help a friend a friend in need, even if she hadn't known him that long, but he couldn't take advantage of her like that._

 _Of any of them like that._

 _He just wasn't worth it._

 _Suffice to say, this was far from an easy decision._

'Monty Oum on High what a Clusterfuck! _' he groaned mentally, looking skyward for some sort of answer with a sigh._

 _One thing was certain: Divine or otherwise, he needed help._

 _Almost involuntarily, he felt his eyes slowly begin drifting back to the woman in front of him, still waiting for his response, his thoughts turning pensive as he considered her._

 _Did he trust her? Well, about as much as he did Ironwood, which is to say: Hell, no! That first "attack" on her part had seen to that, but, outside of that she hadn't made any overly threatening gestures and she had given him a great deal of information to meditate on later. Besides, what did he have to lose? She was a teacher after all, the worse she could do was give him bad advice, but the final choice would be up with him._

 _And again, as fucked up as this was, he needed all the help he could get._

" _Screw it." He muttered, before steeling his resolve as he locked eyes with the older woman_

" _What do you think I should do?"_

 _0_

 _Glynda, to her credit, did not_ jump _when the boy addressed her seemingly out of the blue, however, both of her eyes did widen for a moment, the brows above each shooting up in surprise before she managed to re-school her features into their standard impassive mask._

 _Had he been in a better state of mind, Naruto would have called that a victory and donned his now trademarked teasing grin in response._

 _As it was, however, he just managed a barely perceptible smirk at the slip before sobering as he saw the woman begin to consider his question._

 _Her eyes had turned pensive as she decided on the best way to answer based on what she'd observed._

 _She had been watching him from the moment she'd handed him the Team configurations, and had been surprised (and even mildly impressed) when, instead of impulsively charging forward with one answer or another (Like a normal teenager) he had instead gained a thoughtful expression and began actually putting thought into which option would suit him best._

 _However, her appreciation had quickly turned to concern as she'd watched the pensive mask he'd erected crack as a myriad of emotions began to overtake his features and, she presumed, mirror his thoughts. As she'd watched looks of concentration, reluctance, anger, frustration, fear and finally desperation make their way across the young man's face, all within the span of what was, in reality, a short few minutes, but what felt like so much longer before he'd turned his attention back to her._

 _Under any other circumstance, she might have brushed the question off in an effort to remain as uninvolved as possible. This was a decision regarding_ his _future after all, and though she was equipped to aid in his survival down whichever path he chose, she had always felt it best to remain impartial when students made decisions on just what that path would be._

 _Trying to control that choice, all too often, only made things worse._

 _And yet, for some reason she couldn't quite bring herself to do so here, as she made the mistake of looking into his eyes._

 _Those distinct, ocean blue eyes, that almost seemed to pierce ones should. So, desperate, so confused, so…_ **Familiar.**

 _She admitted to being…surprised when she'd first spoken to the young Faunus. Based on what she'd known of him, both from Ozpin's briefing and what she'd seen in the forest, she'd expected him to act much like a younger Qrow, albeit without the dependence on booze the older man had developed._

 _That is, she'd expected him to act with a teasing, self-confident, bordering on Devil-May-Care, attitude that was both infuriating and yet somehow endearingly assuring all at the same time._

 _Now though, after she'd spoken to him directly, and seen, for lack of a better term, "How he ticked", if not necessarily what made it happen, she found she needed to amend her original opinion._

 _While he did resemble Qrow on the surface, if she were to compare him to anyone, she would say he was closer to a mix between James and Ozpin in their youth. On more than one occasion he'd displayed the calm- self-assuredness and controlled understanding she'd come to associate with the current Beacon Headmaster, but more often than not during the test, he'd shown a penchant for the same level of brash, impulsive nobility she'd seen in the boy turned man who now ran the Atlesian military._

 _And it was this similarity they caused her pause._

 _She'd seen that same look of utter confused desperation once before for, on a day that was permanently seared into her memory. It had been the last time she and James had been on speaking, even friendly, terms before…Mistakes had been made._

 _If she had a chance, just_ a **chance** _, to prevent history from repeating itself…_

'Damn my sentiment.' _She cursed herself internally, though without any real heat, before turning her attention back to the young man in front of her._

" _Mr. Uzumaki." She began slowly, mentally organizing what she wanted to say as the young Faunus gave her his full attention "I'm…going to be frank with you; I don't believe you should form a Team by yourself."_

 _She sighed as his look turned questioning, though he did not interrupt "I have known Professor Peach for many years, we were friends before either of us even thought of coming to Beacon, and though we still are, I would be lying, both to myself and to you, if I said she hasn't changed since she chose that option."_

 _Her expression turned somewhat wistful "Within a few years, I watched the strawberry-blonde ball of energy I grew up with curl into herself. I saw the stress and paranoia get to her, even when she was around others; How it twisted her perceptions beyond repair. Even today, she refuses to be seen anywhere outside her classroom by people she doesn't know, wholly convinced that the moment she does, some enemy or Grimm will finally get the better of her. It tore all of our hearts out watching it happen, especially when she wouldn't let us help."_

 _She made sure to lock eyes with him before she finished her piece "I have no desire to see_ any _of my students go through what any of us did, and I doubt you'd want to your new friends through that sort of pain."_

 _He actually flinched at her words, mind flashing to an image of a teary eyed Ruby before he shook it away and averted his eyes._

 _Of course he didn't_ **want** _to…But, even so, the point still stood…_

" _But isn't it better to let them go through that now to let them be killed or worse later?" he questioned seriously._

 _Seeing her only response was a slight narrowing of her eyes, he pushed forward, trying to convince himself as much as he was the woman in front of him "I mean, I don't like it, but I'd rather that than have something worse happen when I could have stopped it, especially when it would have been because of me in the first place. Besides," he shook his head "it's not like they've known me that long anyway, I'd just be a burden. I couldn't just let them-!"_

 _He was cut off as, without warning, she lashed out with a solid slap to his right cheek, the blow just strong enough to knock him off balance, destabilizing the layer of Aura shielding him in the process._

 _Stunned, he shifted his eyes back to the woman in front of him, only to be met with one of her now signature-piercing glares, the hand she'd slapped him with curled into a fist at her side while she balanced both her crop and clipboard with the other, somehow making the awkward position seem natural._

'He's more like James than I thought.' _She thought to herself, caught somewhere between intrigued and annoyed_

 _Given how desperate he'd seemed earlier, she'd thought it best to attempt to be as gentle as possible while advising him. But after that spiel…_

 _It had been just the type of short-sighted, stupidly noble load of crock she would have expected her former teammate turned General to come up with when they were younger, so, she chose to respond to it in the way she had become most accustomed in those days._

 _With her own brand of_ "Tough Love".

 _Granted, it may have been a rather…_ Unorthodox _approach for a Professor of her standing, but she'd needed to nip it in the bud and get her point across, and besides…_

 _Technically, the boy before her wasn't a student of Beacon_ , just _yet._

" _Mr. Uzumaki." She pushed forward sternly now that she'd gotten his full attention back "I chose to indulge your concerns out of respect for the skill you displayed and in light of the unusual nature of your upbringing, however, I will_ not _tolerate needless whining."_

 _He made to protest, but was kept silent as her glare turned from piercing to menacing._

" _Yes,_ Whining." _she affirmed, correctly guessing what had irked him "Worse, it seems to stem from some misbegotten and foolish attempt to make yourself some sort of martyr."_

 _Her glare lessened, changing into a look of…embitterment._

" _You disappoint me, Mr. Uzumaki," She said honestly "and what's worse is you don't even understand why. You honestly seem to believe that you'll be doing all your new friends some sort of favor by keeping your distance from them."_

" _I assure you, it won't turn out even remotely as you imagine. All you will accomplish is putting them through a great deal of heartache."_

 _She locked eyes with him._

" _You're being selfish, and if there is one thing I detest, it's pig-headed selfishness."_

 _His face twisted in anger "I am not! I'm-!"_

" _You're what?" She interrupted coldly "Protecting them? Spare me. The last thing any of those young men and women need is protection. I saw how you all interacted in the forest, not much, but enough to know how they'd react to your "Plan" if they knew about it. There is isn't one amongst them who wouldn't tell you exactly what I am now."_

'Even _if_ some of them wouldn't understand why…' _She thought privately as she remembered his earlier interactions with the Schnee Heiress._

She shook her head _"You fought side-by-side with these people, Mr. Uzumaki. Your lives were in each other's hands for a moment. It doesn't matter how little time you've known one another, that sort of connection can't be erased, no matter how hard some might try."_

 _Her eyes softened as she saw his fill with a mixture between guilt and frustration, and, to both of their surprise, she found herself instinctively resting a hand on his shoulder in support as she continued._

" _Listen. I don't know all the details of your life before you came to Beacon, nor do I wish to. But, I can assure you that whatever problems have you worried, you can't solve them by shutting everyone out. At least let others choose how they wish to proceed. No matter your end goals you won't be able to reach them alone. You'll need help. You'll need a Team."_

 _His eyes grew pensive for the last time that night, absorbing this last of advice, before nodding as handed he handed back the Team configurations from earlier, listing of those who had fought the Nevermore at the top._

" _I'd like to request entry to this Team, please." he said formally._

 _While he'd liked to have given some grand explanation on why he chose that group, the truth was he was too damn spent to try. He'd fought with them longer, and even though Jaune was, effectively, his best friend, his Gut was telling him to stick with who he'd chosen so…That was that._

 _Finally taking notice of just where her hand was, the Beacon Professor hurriedly cleared her throat before removing it as subtly as possible to take hold of the offered sheets._

 _Any notion made about the slight tinge of pink on her cheeks that developed as she did so would be ignored._

 _Promptly._

" _Very well." She said simply, grasping the pages and replacing them where they had been in the stack of her clipboard, using the time that she was hidden from view to clear that_ **totally non-existent** _blush from her face._

 _That done, she pulled back the sleeve of the occupied arm to check the time 'Hm, that took longer than expected…Only twelve minutes left.'_

" _If I move now, I should have just enough time to get everything in order. I suggest you make your way to the Auditorium in the meantime Mr. Uzumaki."_

" _Alright." He replied happily, sounding the closest thing to relaxed he'd been for in the last twenty minutes, before pausing in thought a moment, before nodding to himself._

" _And Professor? Thank you…For everything." He said sincerely. He might not have trusted her, at least not completely, but after all she'd done to help him, he was more than willing to show his respect._

 _She had more than earned that._

" _You're more than welcome Mr. Uzumaki." She said honestly, before pausing "And for what it's worth: Good Luck."_

 _He nodded gratefully as, without further ado, she turned on her heel to complete her next task, his mind just registering the line of diamond-shaped beads on the black-back of her cape, topped by Tiara-like emblem that was her personal symbol as he watched her do so._

 _With no further business in the area, the young Faunus began making his way to the Auditorium for the Induction Ceremony, his mind moving on to lighter topics, such as the_ **Highly Suspect** _transcript his enhanced eyesight had picked up over the older woman's retreating shoulder, and the_ **very** _familiar name he spotted at the top of it…_

0

"That's about it." The young Faunus finished with a yawn as he and the rest of the group made now stood outside of what would be their dorm rooms for the next four years "Some annoyance, A history lesson, and a heart-to-heart; Like I said, nothing special."

Evidently, the group at large didn't agree, looking at him with various levels of shock as they processed all he'd said.

Jaune, ever observant, summed up their collective thoughts, letting out a low whistle before breathing out one word:

"Heavy…"

Yeah, that seemed about right.

The young Faunus chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"Um, sorry?" He asked, more than a little embarrassed.

Honestly, that whole story had taken _way_ longer then he meant for it to. Granted he hadn't told them _everything_ that had run through his head (He wasn't _that_ crazy, thank you), or even about all of the discussion he'd had with Goodwitch, but he'd said enough that he'd definitely gone farther down memory lane and said more than he'd have liked. He was usually more controlled then that.

He yawned again.

Course, it could have just been the exhaustion. . .

' _Note to self: No more Aura Barriers."_ He thought with finality, before scratching his chin a moment and amending _'Least not without practice…'_

He shook his head, stowing the thought away for later before looking to the rest of his friends, seeing them still locked firmly in their various methods of contemplation.

He sighed, dredging up as much adrenaline-fueled energy as he could to try and break the ice; this was gonna take way too long if he didn't.

"So!" He said with a clap, snapping their attention to him "At the risk of sounding completely clichéd and, or, like a total geek, are there any further questions, class?" He asked with a smirk, adding a nasally edge to his voice in the end.

That did it.

Everyone, barring the obvious ( _Read: Weiss_ ) either chuckled or smirked at his attempt at humor, though in fairness to the white-themed Heiress, she did look like she had to try hard not to at least snort at the tone.

' _There is still hope.'_ He thought resolutely, with a nod of his head, before he spotted Pyrrha shyly raising her hand.

Whether this was to go along with his whole "Teacher/Student" joke, or if she was just that polite was anyone's guess.

It was kind of hard to tell with her.

"Yes, you, the tall, vibrant redhead in the back." He spoke in a deceptively professional voice, deciding to run with it until he crashed.

Keeping in character, the young Spartan colored slightly at the description before brushing it aside as she pushed forward.

"So that pair of twins could really sense and share their Aura?" She asked, tone somewhere between intrigued and a tad skeptical. It _was_ an impressive ability, albeit, an exceedingly confusing one'; How could two bodies share one soul?

He shrugged noncommittally, the shock of it having faded to the back of his mind "That's what Goodwitch said, and she seemed pretty sincere about it. Sure, it's weird, but, hey, we live in a world filled with giant, bone-covered monsters; I'm willing to go on a little faith here. I mean, twins, you never know what kind of crazy stuff you're gonna get with something like that."

The redhead nodded, accepting the answer, neither of them noticing the odd look that crossed Yang's face as they spoke.

' _Twins can sense each other huh…?'_ She thought with interest. Granted, it was a long shot, it might have just been that pair of twins, and no one had ever mentioned it to her before, but at the same time, she was fairly certain they'd never _tried._ She might need to talk with her Uncle…

She shook her head, it was something to think on later.

But for now…

"Hey, Foxy?" She asked with a certain gleam in her.

"Yeeees, my Buxom, Blonde friend?" He drawled out teasingly in response.

She smirked at the description before continuing "Did you seriously get Goodwitch to blush?"

Most people rolled their eyes, while Blake, unseen by her partner, mouthed a silent "Really?"

Having said this, it should be noted that Jaune, who had only been listening passively until that point, began to pay _very_ close attention at the mention of _that_ seemingly minute detail, and though he'd always deny it, even Ren felt his brow quirk in interest.

Naruto himself, not keen to brag, didn't answer verbally, however, the Fox-like grin he sent the older girl in response spoke volumes.

Seeing this, the older male blonde of the group, well-aware of the Deputy Headmistress' typical…mannerisms, felt his eyes widen before speaking in a tone bordering on outright reverence.

"Dude…I think you just became my hero."

The young Faunus, ever the showman, widened his eyes at the proclamation before clutching at his heart in over-the-top surprise.

"You mean I wasn't already?!" he asked, feigning shock before shooting the older boy a cheeky grin.

' _Hm, that didn't last long.'_ The young knight thought to himself, shooting his Fox-tailed best friend the most deadpan look possible in return for his efforts, that was, at least, until another thought occurred, and he allowed a smirk of his own to take its place.

' _Well, he_ **did** _say to follow your instincts…'_

"OH!" He exclaimed dramatically, clutching at his own chest "My mistake. Please, allow me to respond with all the regard such a statement deserves."

With that said, he quickly fished his Scroll out of his pocket before reaching back, and, in a move so fluid it surprised literally _everyone_ present (himself included), sliding it into the door's E. Lock, unlocking it before stepping back through it and closing it back in their faces, albeit with a small crack, and deliberately never once breaking eye-contact with the young Faunus in front of him until he had done so.

The others, even Nora, were stunned silent, all staring at the spot the older blonde had occupied a moment before.

Then the sound of a shower running reached their ears.

That about did it.

Everyone cracked up in their own way, whether just from the moment itself or how unexpected it had been coming from the normally awkward blonde depended on who you asked.

Yang, Nora and Naruto actually had to hold their sides they were laughing so hard, with the latter actually giving a little smatter of applause, impressed at the execution.

Blake and Pyrrha, a tad more reserved, only laughed lightly at the moment.

Ruby didn't get it, but, the laughter was infectious, so she quickly found herself joining in.

Thought, admittedly, it might have just been because the faces Weiss made while trying to hold back her own laughter, only finally to give in and let loose a light giggle, were really, _really_ funny.

Heck, if you listened hard enough, you could even hear Ren let loose a mild chuckle of his own.

Now _that_ was impressive!

Honestly, even if it wasn't all that funny, after all the stress and near-death experiences that day, it felt good to laugh like a bunch of loons and act like, well, " _Normal"_ teenagers.

The laughter continued for a while longer before tapering off into a comfortable silence, one that was only broken by the sound of the shower turning off.

Not ten seconds after it did, the elder redhead of the group covered her mouth politely as she let out a light yawn, before shooting the rest of them a sheepish half-smile.

"Well, it's been fun, but I think it best I retire for now; Good night all." She said kindly, and Naruto couldn't help the quirk of his lips that followed.

This…She just made it _so_ easy. It was almost _precious!_

"Oh, they grow up so fast!" He sniffed, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye "One minute they're killing giant scorpions in the woods, and the next they're trying to find subtle ways to peek on their partners once they get out of the shower." He clenched his fist "I'm so proud!"

Yang, catching on, sent the taller girl a thumbs-up, wiggling her eyebrows, while Blake, standing only a few inches behind her felt her cheeks tinge pink at the implications.

Even so, she had nothing on the young Spartan herself.

The Mistralite teen had quickly found herself flushing a darker shade of red than her hair as the younger boy had spoken, something the others couldn't help but find a mix between funny and adorable on the usually poised Huntress.

An effect that was only enhanced, Naruto noted with a smirk, by the distinctly masculine 'Meep!', followed by the hurried sound of rustling fabric, his ears picked up from behind the door behind her.

Apparently, Jay had been listening through the door…

Bonus.

Oddly enough, at the same time he picked up on the sound, he could've sworn he saw Blake gain the tiniest of smirks on her still blushing face, almost as if she'd heard it as well…

Granted, it may have just been a trick of the light, and he was tired, but still…something about it niggled at the back of his mind.

He shook the though away as he noticed the still blushing red-head in front of him, having finally regained enough of her bearings to manage it, begin to try and stutter out some form of protest.

"That isn't…I mean, I wasn't…-I-I mean…" she started out nervously, before moving to something resembling panic.

' _Oh shit, does she think I'm serious?'_ he thought with puzzled alarm.

Sensing the coming meltdown, the whisker-faced teen hurriedly made some quick alterations in his head, deciding to take mercy on the thoroughly embarrassed older girl.

"But, even so, I cannot allow this to stand!" He interjected quickly, cutting the girls hastily constructed defense off before shooting her a much-needed wink to show he'd only been joking.

Her blush seemed to intensify for a moment, before lessening as she nodded with a small half-smile which was readily returned.

' _Jeez, that was too close._ ' He thought in relief even as he felt a twinge of guilt spark its way through his system.

He frowned inwardly; Apparently, she was worse at the whole "social interaction" thing than he'd first guessed. Even if she could _take_ a joke, it didn't always mean she could _recognize_ one.

He might need to dial back on the teasing until she got used to being around people her own age.

Crying shame, really, but probably for the best.

Having said that…She _did_ know that he was joking _now…_

' _One more couldn't hurt, right?'_ Came the sly thought.

All too quickly, he felt the familiar tug on his lips as a smile turned into a devious smirk, giving the girl in front of him one last look of reassurance before pushing forward.

"Ren! Nora!" he called out suddenly, snapping his head to the side to face the last two JNPR members "I'm counting on you two to chaperone, okay? No telling what those two might get up to otherwise!"

Taking a note from Yang's book, he started wiggling his eyebrows for added effect.

Catching onto the joke, the two partners shared a look for a moment before reacting, although, as you'd expect, in completely different ways.

With a grin at the younger boy's actions, the bubbly hammer-wielder quickly schooled her features as best she could before shooting him a practiced salute.

"Sir, yes sir General Whiskers, sir!"

She managed to hold the semi-stoic look for all of about five seconds after her proclamation, before the dam broke, giggling like a madwoman at the whole thing.

Ren, on the other hand, far more reserved, took a moment to meet his crimson-haired teammates eyes with a side-long glance before allowing an almost imperceptible smirk to grace his lips.

Without a word, he shot the whisker-faced boy a quick thumbs-up in confirmation, readily accepted with a nod and a matching over-the-top look of stoicism.

The young Spartan, now well-aware of the joke at her expense, simply gaped at her two teammates, opening her mouth as if to say something before apparently thinking better of it and closing it with an audible ' _click.'_

Evidently deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, she gave a single nod before mimicking her partner, disappearing through the door behind her with a deadpan look.

' _Not even gonna grace that with a response'_ she thought resolutely turning to face the room proper.

…Only to immediately come face-to-face with Jaune.

Who was shirtless.

And still slightly wet from his time in the shower.

And who she just now noticing was quite a bit better muscled then she would have expected.

And staring at her.

Yeah…

Suffice to say, there was much blushing and stuttering in the room of JNPR that night.

Back on the outside, Naruto, after a having a slight chuckle at the older girl's action, shifted his eyes over to the "Flower Power" duo with an all too familiar foxlike grin.

"Nicely done guys, thanks for playing alo- Where did she go?" he began, only to be cut-off by the hyper girl's sudden disappearance.

One minute she'd been standing there next to her partner, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet with a carefree grin, then he'd he blinked and just…'POOF!' No more Nora.

Seriously, what the actual Hell?

Before he could comment further, his ears perked up, sensing… _something_.

Slowly looking to his left, even he couldn't stop the sudden jump of surprise he made at finding the seemingly missing shorter girl barely an inch away from his face, sporting an exceedingly manic grin.

As in, manic even by _Nora_ standards.

Yeah, he was little freaked out now.

' _When did she even …?'_ He thought in shock, words failing even in his thoughts as he watched the girl's face suddenly change from manic to pensive in a matter of seconds.

Leaning forward so they were practically nose to nose, the girl began to stare deeply into his eyes, as if in search of something.

Now, as was typical of such situations when he was caught off guard, and in what could be considered the penultimate karmic shift of the decade, the young Fox-boy quickly found his own face tinging red at the proximity.

Turnabout _is_ fair-play, after-all.

Fortunately for him, it apparently didn't take long for the young hammer-wielder to find what she'd been looking for, as after a moment her pensive stare broke into another, albeit just slightly calmer, grin before she took a step back.

Oddly enough, as she did, he felt another confusing twinge of disappointment well up in his chest at the loss of closeness.

Honestly, he might need to look into that later; It was starting to worry him.

At the moment though, he was far more concerned with the girl in front of him, who had begun to speak in a chipper, yet, oddly introspective voice after what seemed to be a moment of thought, finger held under her chin and everything; made quite the picture in retrospect.

"That flashback earlier was good, but, it dragged on _way_ too long, made it kind of a chore to get through, might want to cut down on the exposition some next time… Oh, and the emo monologue stuff, it seemed kinda OOC."

That bit made everyone, even Ren, stop and blink at her in confusion, only to receive an all too innocent close-eyed smile in return.

…Okay, yeah, now this was just _concerning._

They stood in a mildly awkward silence for a moment, everyone (bar the excitable orange-haired girl herself) confused and, honestly, more-than a little scared to break it.

Finally, Ren, he who was most accustomed to that special brand of Nora insanity decided enough was enough, pushing forward to try and get some kind of explanation.

Oum bless his brave soul!

"Nora…" He began slowly, still slightly wary as she turned to him, head cocked cutely to the side in curiosity "What are you talking about?

She only smiled brightly at him "I'm Critiquing, silly!" She said as if it were the most obvious and natural thing in the world "If I don't talk about this stuff here, there's no telling how many flames this story will get later on!"

Ren just blinked at her, at a loss for words.

This…This was weird, even for Nora.

She hadn't said anything this crazy since…

A peripheral image of a refreshment table set up just outside the auditorium earlier that night flashed through his mind for a split-second.

 _Oh…_

Yeah, that was about right.

Groaning, the magenta eyed boy couldn't help but face-palm in exasperation.

Suddenly, _a lot_ of things started to make sense…

Unaware of whatever epiphany the older boy had just come to, Naruto, evidently fed up with being confused, decided to wade in.

"What are you-?!"

"Shhh!" The smaller girl shushed him, placing a finger-tip to his lips and eliciting another small blush in the process "The main character can't become self-aware this late in the game! It would throw off the whole story's dynamic!"

After she removed her finger, the young whisker-faced boy could only gawk at her in confusion, so many questions running through his mind he didn't even know where to start.

A state of affairs which the young Valkyrie couldn't help but find adorable coming from the blonde Faunus.

Without further delay, she quickly raised her finger yet again, this time lightly tapping his nose.

"Boop!"

Before, with a self-satisfied smile, she too retreated behind the door of her team's room.

The members of Team RWUBY, all in a similar state of shock, paused to take that in before, as one, they all turned to the last member of Team JNPR amongst them for an explanation.

To his credit, the magenta eyed boy managed to keep his composure at the sudden flood of attention, but then again, with a friend like Nora, it might have just been from years of practice.

Speaking of whom…

"My apologies for that." He said with a sigh, addressing all of them but locking eyes with Naruto "There was a refreshment table outside the auditorium before Induction, I think she might have gotten into the coffee they had set up. I told her she couldn't _make_ any anymore, but if I don't stop her and someone _else_ made it...Well, you've seen the results; apparently, it lets her _see_ things."

They just blinked at him.

"At least, that's what she told me the last time this happened, so…" He trailed off awkwardly, before apparently deciding to cut his losses "Good night."

With that he bolted after his partner through the door, all but slamming it shut and leaving the more color-coded Team to their thoughts for the night.

A wise choice, all things considered.

Said Team of Five, well-and-truly shell-shocked by his rapid departure and the insanity preceding it, could only gawk at the closed door for a moment, eyes shifting periodically from it, to each other, and back again, all at a loss for words.

This would have continued…Had Naruto not begun to feel _annoyed._

"...Huh?...What?...Why..."He gawked in confusion a moment gesturing wildly at the door, eye _just_ beginning to twitch, before stopping abruptly.

"You know what? No." He clapped his hands together, snapping the others out of their trances. "I don't care. It is _too_ damn late and I am _too_ damn tired to deal with this shit right now. I'm going to bed."

With that said, he spun on his heel, the others following his lead as he made his way to the door and used his scroll to unlock it, pulling the door open and moving to step inside... then paused.

"On second thought…" He trailed off before stepping to the side and holding it open, allowing the smirk to return to his face as he took an extravagant bow to the younger girl behind him.

"After you, Fearless Leader."

Who better to christen their new home away from home than the girl who was going to lead them into battle?

The younger girl, even still slightly reeling from the mass influx of insanity earlier, couldn't help the blush that lit up her face at the gesture, but she managed to stifle her embarrassment long enough to offer a shy smile and nod before stepping forward.

"So…" She started warily, flicking on the light as she began searching for a way to change the subject to… _anything_ else "That "Gemini" Semblance sounds awesome!"

Her eyes lit-up as she spoke, and the others (sans Weiss who rolled her eyes) couldn't help but smile at the younger girl's childlike excitement.

"I mean, I love my Speed, but _Fusion_?! That's gotta be the coolest Semblance I've ever heard of!"

Naruto, for the last time that night, allowed a small teasing smile to make its way to his face as he stepped up ahead of the young Rosette.

"Ah, but Little Red, you forget." He raised a finger for emphasis, leaning in a bit closer "You haven't seen _my_ Semblance yet."

His piece said, he spun on his heel, beginning to examine the room in earnest, noting the group of suitcases (and one book bag) piled in the center of the floor and missing the younger girl's eyes widening at his declaration.

"Ooh" She breathed excitedly, imagination running wild, only to be cut-off before she could respond.

"Ruby!" Weiss whispered hurriedly, waving the younger girl over once she'd gotten her attention "We have a _serious_ problem!"

The young redhead tilted her head "What do you mean?"

"Take a look at the room." Blake interjected in her typical voice, though it was tinged with… _something_ she couldn't quite recognize.

Confused, the young Rose did just that. It seemed normal enough: a desk in the far corner, a window set into the wall across from them, a door which she assumed led to a bathroom; Nothing special. There luggage, four large beds…

Wait!

That was it!

"There aren't enough beds!" She exclaimed, slamming a fist into an upraised palm.

"Exactly." Weiss affirmed "Four beds, five people!"

"Which means…" Blake prompted.

"We'll have to share." Yang finished with a drawl, gaining a smile on her face the young Rose found _deeply_ unsettling for some reason.

Despite this, she was still confused "…So?"

"So?!" Weiss asked incredulously "So, he's a boy you dolt!" She whisper-yelled pointing at the young Fox Faunus who still had his back to them, her face flushed.

The redhead's eyes narrowed for a moment, still not quite understanding, before they widened as it clicked, her face quickly flushing as red as her hood to match that of her partner "Oh…"

"So, you see the problem?" Blake asked, a touch of pink on her cheeks as she spoke in a tone tinged with what the young redhead now understood was embarrassment.

"Mm-hmm." She squeaked, too embarrassed to speak clearly.

Her sister, however, had no such issue "Nope." She said, popping the P with a voice far too innocent to be genuine.

Ruby, however, frazzled as she was, failed to pick up on this, and immediately began trying to explain.

"Yang! One of us has to _share_! _With a boy!"_ She emphasized, honestly a little annoyed/shocked at her sister's supposed denseness.

…Irony at its best that.

"Exactly." The older girl said with a distinctly pervy grin, albeit with a slight blush "Like I said, no problems."

The others gaped at her, and she just shrugged "I'm just saying if it comes down to it… I'm game."

Now, don't misunderstand, despite how carefree she was the older blonde was by no means "loose". Hell, she'd hadn't even had her first kiss yet, let alone lost her oh, so coveted V-Card.

Flirty as she was, she still had _some_ self-restraint, after all.

Granted, it might not have been much, but still.

Having said that, however, who was she to balk at the option of cuddling into the night with a cute Fox-Faunus? And if it happened to lead to some "Heavy Petting" …

Her blush grew even as she felt her grin do the same "It might be f- "

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Ruby and Weiss whisper-yelled at once, shooting each other a surprised look before they both returned to glaring at the taller girl.

Yang tilted her head at her younger sister in confusion "Ruby?"

The younger girl blushed, honestly a bit thrown off guard by her own reaction "I-I mean…What would Dad say?!" She recovered as quickly as she could, pushing her confusion to the side with a burst of energy.

"Besides" Weiss picked up "Class starts tomorrow, none of us will be able to sleep if you two…" She blushed harder as she trailed off.

Yang looked at Blake for support but the black themed girl only shot her a deadpan look.

"No. Just no."

The blonde pouted at her, before turning back to the others.

Fortunately for all involved, before they could continue, they were halted by a heavy-sounding "Thump" to their collective right.

Looking over, they were surprised to see the object of their discussion having passed out, face down on the floor just to the side of one of the beds.

Apparently, he'd decided to settle the argument for them.

Go figure.

"Um, should we…do something?" The red-haired leader asked uncertainly, watching as the older boy rolled to his side, wrapping his tail around himself like a fluffy-orange blanket.

"I don't see why." Weiss said flippantly "Solved our problem."

Blake glared at the white-haired Heiress "That doesn't mean he should have to sleep on the floor!" she said heatedly.

To her credit, the young Schnee had the decency to look ashamed at that.

"Uh, come on Foxy, you don't have to do that. Let's just…" Yang said almost awkwardly, stepping forward and reaching down to shift the younger blonde.

 ***Snarl** *

Only to snap her hand back as the whiskered boy sent a feral growl her way in his sleep.

"…Or not." The young brawler summed up nervously.

They all just stood there, unsure how to proceed, the only sound Naruto's soft snores before Weiss decided to speak again.

"I really do think we should just leave him for now." Her voice turned defensive as the others, even Ruby, all shot her aggravated looks "I admit, it's not the _best_ solution, but, look at the facts: He doesn't want to be moved, classes start in the morning, and…What other option is there?"

The others all gained pensive looks at that, struggling for an answer and finding none.

"Well…" Ruby started off uncertainly "He does seem kinda comfortable, I guess?"

It came out as more of a question than a statement as she shot a look at her older sister who, at the moment, was hesitantly reaching down to try and move the whiskered-boy again.

This time her attempt was rebuffed as he actually _snapped_ at the hand offered before resettling himself as if nothing had ever happened.

The blonde returned her sisters look with wide-eyes.

"Yeah, he's not moving." She said matter-of-factly checking her hand to make sure she still had all her fingers.

Blake hesitated as the others all turned their eyes to her before letting out a sigh "I…suppose, one night wouldn't hurt."

Both Ruby and Yang nodded their consent before moving to get ready for bed, and Weiss nearly managed to give a sigh of relief before quickly finding Blake in her face, shooting her an icy glare.

" _But_." She hissed, standing nose to nose with the shorter girl "Don't you _dare_ think this is going to be permanent; This changes in the morning or…"

She trailed off, and the Schnee Heiress gulped at the implication before offering a hesitant nod as the black-themed girl went to join the others.

The white-haired girl paused a moment to calm herself, before following after the rest of her team.

Honestly, she didn't get what the big deal was; _Of course,_ it would change in the morning.

While it was true that the younger boy wasn't her favorite person by any means, even ignoring his past and his Faunus traits, she didn't hate him, and if nothing else, he had saved her life more than once that day.

If for no other reason than that, he at least deserved a decent night's rest.

0

As the teens all settled in for the night, Ozpin found himself hard at work making the final preparations for classes to begin the next day.

He had just gotten done looking over a rather interesting transcript from a certain member team JNPR, a brow quirked up in amusement as he did so, when Glynda stepped into his office baring her own arm full of papers.

"Professor?" She questioned, stepping forward and drawing his full attention, even if he didn't rise "I have the final Military Authorization forms for Team RWUBY for you to sign off on; Last of the night if I'm not mistaken."

"I'm sure you aren't" he said kindly before gesturing to a chair "It's been a long day, please, have seat."

She nodded, handing him the papers as she did just that, all but slumping into the chair as the whole day seemed to catch up to her at once.

The older man took a second to look over this latest group of documents as his companion rested, allowing a small smile to grace his lips at the oddly-spelled Team name.

It may have seemed odd to some, adding the boys surname initial to the middle of an already viable Team name, but something about the other option of "RWBYN" left a bad taste in his mouth, even as he'd thought of it.

So, when the issue had come up, his mind had harkened back for an alternative before recalling several texts he'd come across in Anima in which the authors listed their surnames first; a tradition which readily lent itself to his needs.

Grantedly, it was a simple solution, but having had to puzzle it out had led the name to being oddly endearing for the bespectacled Headmaster.

Pushing the thought to the side, he caught his companions eye before gesturing to a tray set to the side of his desk.

"Would you care for a cup of tea? I was just considering one when you came in."

The woman offered a brief nod as he rose, pouring two cups of the steaming hot liquid before handing one to her.

"A bit late for tea though, don't you think?" she asked a bit coyly, even as she accepted the cup with a grateful nod.

He sent her a soft smile in return. "Perhaps, but in my experience, there are few things quite as enjoyable as sharing a good cup of tea with a friend after a hard day's work."

"I suppose…" she said slowly with a non-committal hum, taking a long sip of the drink now that it had cooled, before letting out a sigh of relief "And that settles it; you've convinced me yet again, Professor." She said in a light tone, a rare, albeit small, smile spread across her face.

"I'm glad." The older man said with a smile of his own before shooting her a mock-stern look "Though I do wish you would at least use my surname while we're in private, it only seems fair considering you allow me to use your given name."

She met his stern look with a haughty one of her own "I'm sorry sir, but I'm afraid it just wouldn't be professional."

They held the look for a moment, before both falling into short peals of laughter.

Ozpin couldn't help but enjoy the melodious sound while it lasted; it was so rare that his surrogate younger sister allowed herself to relax even the slightest bit and rarer still that he was able to hear her laugh.

All too quickly, however, the sound faded, as they fell into a comfortable silence, happy to just enjoy one another's company, the white-haired man quickly signing off on the documents she'd brought as his companion simply soaked in the relaxed sounds and atmosphere of the room.

That was until, after yet another sip of her tea, the stern woman allowed a sigh of contentment to escape her lips before attempting to make conversation.

"I hate to admit it, but after a day like today, this feels like _absolute heaven._ "

"Pray tell?" Ozpin asked with an upturned brow, interest piqued as to what could cause the normally stoic woman to need to unwind this thoroughly.

"Keeping everything organized is one thing, but add on top of it that earlier drama with Uzumaki…Well, lets' just say I'm glad it's over with for now."

"You've spoken with Mr. Uzumaki then?"

She nodded "Yes, just before the Team-naming ceremony, in fact."

"And what were your thoughts?" he asked curiously, hoping for another perspective on the oddly enigmatic boy.

The younger woman paused, taking another long sip from her glass as she thought of the best way to answer her old teammate.

"Mind you, I didn't speak to him for long, so there's not much I can say" She started slowly after a moment. "But, if I had to describe him… _complex_ would probably be the best word."

A moment passed as she gathered her thoughts "On a purely academic level, his skills border on the prodigal. You saw his actions during the initiation, but I believe they extend even beyond that."

"When I approached him earlier, I sent a subtle flare of my Presence his way; A precaution mostly, just to keep his focus on the conversation as needed."

"Understandable" the older man stated simply "After the ordeal earlier today, it would be difficult to keep his attention otherwise.

"Precisely." She confirmed with a nod "So, you can imagine my surprise when not only did he resist my attempt, he actively managed to throw it off with a surge of his own Aura."

"An impressive feat considering the amount he must have expended earlier."

"Indeed" the younger woman confirmed noticing his look of surprise "If I'm honest, I believe the attempt angered him, he actually growled at me afterwards before managing to calm down again."

She said this last part with a twinge of something between annoyance and amusement before continuing "What impresses me, however, was that as he schooled his features, I could actually feel him drawing his Aura inward. After a moment, there was so little left I would have believed him dead if I hadn't seen him there in front of me."

Despite himself the older man felt his eyes widen; Control like that at his age, and against someone as skilled as Glynda no less…

"What's worse is that while he had to focus on calming himself, the withdrawal of his Aura seemed almost _instinctive_. If he's capable of managing something of that level already…"

She trailed off, but what she'd said already spoke volumes.

While he doubted the ability could be quite as versatile as some of the stealth-based semblances he'd come across, there was no denying the level of talent it took to conceal one's Aura through practice alone, and this was all _before_ he'd gone through any proper training.

At least, that he knew of.

Yet another mystery surrounding the boy he would need to look into further.

Pushing _that_ growing issue to the side for the moment, he turned his attention back to the woman in front of him who had grown silent after she'd said her piece.

"While I admit his skill level is… _compelling_ , I notice you've said nothing about how you perceive his character?"

The mostly unspoken question was carried in the tone of his voice, and the platinum blonde found answering it oddly difficult, swishing the rapidly cooling bits-of leaf that remained in her cup in thought for a moment.

"I'm afraid that's because it's much harder to describe." She said slowly, choosing to voice her reservations in the hopes of understanding them better "It's far more complicated then you'd expect."

She drew a breath, steeling her nerves as she apparently decided it was best to be bluntly honest.

"As I said, my attempt to affect him with my Presence earlier seemed to anger him, so for a good amount time all of his actions came off as rather… _mechanical_ reflecting that, even despite brief moments of curiosity. However, near the end…"

She trailed, thinking of the best way to describe what she'd seen of the young man earlier.

"When I brought up the topic of his Placement in Team Configurations, his mask broke entirely for several moments and I saw several emotions work their way across his face before he could fix it again: Guilt, grief, aggravation…"

It took the older man a few moments to understand what she was implying.

"He was…Afraid?"

She nodded thoughtfully, glad for the simple description.

"Deathly so, but, not for himself."

She sighed as she received yet another questioning look from the white-haired man.

"The emotions he showed seemed familiar to me from… _Past Events._ So, when he asked for advice on how to proceed, I chose to…act accordingly" She said after a moment, leaving no doubt in the older man's mind to precisely what event she was referring.

"It took a moment but, I finally managed to convince him against forming a team on his own. You might say it wasn't my place to do so but…I don't think I need to remind you of what can happen to that kind of potential when left to its own devices."

The Headmaster of Beacon couldn't fault his deputy's actions, even if he was a tad surprised by her willingness to pursue them.

Given context, though, her concern did make a certain kind of sense.

While Glynda had spoken a bit about the negative effects of forming a Team of One could have, one thing she'd neglected to mention was just how deeply that sense of isolation could affect the person acting on their own.

A person blessed with any type of advanced skill at a young age was already detached from others on some level; their minds just tended to be geared differently than those around them.

This was part of the reason the Team of Four dynamic existed in the first place. At least amongst a group of three other eccentrics they stood a chance of making friends, a factor which would be invaluable in the heat of battle.

Those who chose to act alone, however, did not have this luxury. Without the steady base of teammates to support them, those prodigious enough to form Teams of One often found themselves becoming beings of one-mind, doubling down on both their studies and their training with little else to focus on.

Though this did have the obvious effect of improving their ability, the near constant isolation often led to the steady loss of their humanity, something both could sadly testify to having seen first-hand.

Professor Peach's near-complete withdrawal from society spoke for itself, but maybe even worse still was what the experience had nearly done to one James Ironwood.

He remembered meeting the younger man about twenty years prior, though it felt like more than a lifetime ago.

It had been just after what he'd taken to calling "The Shift". He and Glynda, having met up earlier on the school Bullhead, had been settling in for the night when they first encountered the young Atlesian.

A prodigy in both Marksmanship and Military tactics, James, much like Naruto, had been invited to Beacon an entire year before any of his peers. Standing at a mere five feet, the then skinny-pencil of a boy was a far-cry from the 6-foot, broad-shouldered General he would grow to become and quickly found himself being tossed around as his bulkier classmates began roughhousing with one-another.

After one particularly hard-shove the young boy was actually flung from the group, just barely managing to keep from falling on his face as he balanced on his toes, fighting to regain his footing and coming nose-to-nose with a surprised Glynda in the process.

Having been standing back in curiosity, the Headmaster couldn't remember much about the actual conversation that followed, but he remembered thinking the younger man seemed decent enough.

Hell, anyone that could nearly fall _,_ play it off and then start trying to flirt, with _Glynda_ of all people, even managing to get _her_ to _blush_ in the process all in one motion…Yeah, this man was a Hero.

The teasing material _alone_ …

But, then they'd gone through initiation and with the odd number of students that year, both James and Peach ended up as Teams of One.

When next they'd seen the young man, about a month later as Teams of One usually had special classes, it didn't take much for them to realize something was wrong.

There was a certain… _sterility_ to how he spoke, like he was trying to sound natural instead of just letting it happen, a far-cry from the easy confidence they'd seen before, and based on what they'd seen of Peach during lunch periods, it was only bound to get worse.

This was the proof they'd been dreading. With Peach, they'd hoped it was just a fluke, the larger workload clashing with her bouncy personality, something she could work through in time. But if it was hitting James in the same way…

Fortunately, in his youth Ironwood had yet to develop the stubborn streak he was known for now and after a year under the isolated conditions, applied to join any Team in need of a fourth member.

As luck would have it, his and Glynda's fourth Teammate was injured in their groups final mission that year, needing time to recover before transferring to Vacuo to continue his training, so they were more than happy to accept the young Atlesian into their group's fold, managing to undo most of the effects the previous year had on him in the process.

Most.

Just in time, if he were honest. Advanced skill in weapons and unstable mental states were never a good combination. They'd gotten lucky with Peach, horrible as it was to say, but with as much skill as James had back then, there's no telling how much damage _his_ Breaking Point might have brought if they hadn't stopped it in time.

And now they had Naruto…

Who was stronger than James had been…

If he'd formed a Team of One, and then broken under the isolation…

He shuddered.

Glynda had done well to dissuade him; There was no telling how deadly the fallout might have been otherwise.

"No…I don't believe you do." He said letting out breath, the last minute of rapid-fire thought and memory settling back into place. "You acted well. We've been lucky so far, but there's a great deal of difference between being alone in a wide-open forest with distractions and being alone in a small room with nothing but your thoughts."

"Precisely." She affirmed with a relieved nod, glad he'd understood "Given the risks, I decided to venture a guess as to what troubled him and prompted a few questions. I can't pretend to know all of the details, but…he seemed wholly convinced that staying alone would somehow protect his would-be teammates."

Ozpin felt his brow quirk up in interest at that _'So, a sacrifice gambit then? Hm, noble, if misplaced…More like James then I'd have thought._ '

"This development is… _troublesome_ , to say the least." He continued thoughtfully after a moment, steepling his fingers as he gazed at the younger woman "While I can respect his motives, the fact that he would jump to it so readily raises great concern. Tell me, are you aware of his fears source?"

Glynda paused in thought for a moment, before regretfully shaking her head "I'm afraid not, but given what you've told me…"

She trailed off, but she needn't have said more, the Gear-like Symbol of the Schnee Dust Company and Family Line flashing threw both of their minds.

It seemed that _man_ had yet more to answer for…

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Glynda." He said after a moment, rising and giving her a genuine smile in thanks which she answered with a small one of her own.

"My Pleasure, sir. I believe it best I depart for now, good night." She said simply, rising as well and making her way to the door."

"And to you as well." He replied with a slight wave as the door closed behind her, again leaving him to his thoughts.

Turning to his window, the wizened Headmaster gazed down upon the courtyard of the school to which he'd devoted so much, teacup in hand, a multitude of thoughts coursing their way through his mind.

This was… _Complicated._

The increase in Grimm, the Dust thefts, the Attack on the Fall Maiden and the near full loss of her Power, Qrow's disappearance…Salem…

And now Naruto.

Suddenly there were far too many variables active in this situation, and for the first time in years, despite _all_ of his experience, the white-haired man found himself unsure of how to proceed.

He was unaccustomed to feeling this… _adrift._

The most he had at the moment, was a _Notion_. A sort-of instinctive sense that something needed to be done, and though it was not unfamiliar, having to rely on it so heavily left him… _Uneasy._

The one thing he was sure of, though, was that whatever happened would be important. The Sense only appeared when something was important. He had felt it when he'd first met Summer, he'd felt it when he'd recruited the younger Miss Rose and he'd felt it even back then, when he'd taken a chance on the four oddly-themed sisters who'd helped save his life…

And yes, most recently, he'd felt it when he'd recruited the young Fox-Faunus.

And if that hunch he'd had in the forest was correct…

He shook away his thoughts away with a short huff of breath before turning back to his desk, the last forms of the night still only half-done.

It would do him no good to worry on this now. With so little information on anyone's end, all it would amount to would be a load of unneeded stress; It would only add to the problem.

He took a seat, signing off, one-by-one, on all of Team RWUBY's final forms until reaching the one on the blonde former criminal.

Regardless of his approach though, one thing was certain: He'd need to speak with Mr. Uzumaki. Soon.

He took the final-sip of his tea, feeling the full weight of years as he looked down into its blackened dregs.

"Hm, how…Bittersweet."

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hello lovely people of the Internet!**

 **My Name is Reflective599, this is my very first fanfic, and I'd like to welcome you, to Chapter 7.**

 **So, technicals...**

 **I'm Sorry. I'm just sorry.**

 **I genuinely dislike this chapter. It was supposed to be the** _ **entrance**_ **to Ch.7, but it just kept dragging on until it became its own thing. I probably delved a little too deep into the pit of angst that's my mind, brought up a little too much melodrama when I resurfaced, and then tried to beat it back down with innuendo and fourth wall breaks.**

 **Some of y'all might disagree, in which case thank you for the support, but , for those who do agree, all I can do is apologize and say that the next chapter will be better.**

 **Writers block does things people.**

 **Speaking of which…**

 **Next chapters gonna take a while. Though I've already started Ch.8, my will to write kind've took a nosedive, and I've started nitpicking myself way harder then I should. Genuinely, most of the stuff I end up writing down sounds like garbage to me right now, and I really don't feel comfortable moving forward with anything until I've moved past it.**

 **If I can't read it, I wouldn't want you guys to.**

 **Having said that, I do have the next chapter, and several others already planned out, and going back and editing my old stuff is really helping the issue. It'll be awhile, but, Ch.8** _ **will**_ **come.**

 **I haven't quit yet!**

 **Next chapter will go back into the Rwby canon. Then there'll be one more that's all me (cringe) and then…** _ **that**_ **one.**

 **You all know exactly what I'm talking about.**

 **I have a plan, and hopefully, I can help salvage a few things from that arc.**

 **And yes, that was a pun.**

 **Anyway, onto the fun bits!**

 **World building, tension, a lot of teasing and a whole big ball of melodrama just went down, hopefully the next one will be lighter, because whoo boy, that got away from me for a bit.**

 **Yes, Nora broke the fourth wall, chibi's canon enough in my head for that to work so...yeah, don't know if it'll come back yet, but, it was a spur of the moment thing, so… I guess we'll have to wait and see.**

 **Also, don't worry, that pair of twins and their team will come back, I already have a plan in mind for them, and a few other OC's in the future. Some of you might even recognize a few…**

 **Rest assured though, everything's mapped out in that tangled mess I call a mind so, and will come together eventually.**

 **Finally, and I know by now it probably seems like I'm begging, to any wanting to do a Reading version of this story: First off: YES! 1000% Yes, you have my permission. Second, just message me so we can get it up and running.**

 **Just word to the wise I don't know all the names for things on the site yet so... I might need to play catch up (What's a collab, etc.)**

 **That's about it, so...Until next time, as always, I have been Reflective599, and thank you for reading. PEACE!**

 **P.s**

 **How would y'all feel about me starting some new stories for Naruto, Harry Potter, or Danny Phantom once I'm done with volume 1 of this story? ideas are brewing like crazy, so I figured I'd put that out there now…**


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